Naruto: Path of the Sage
by SoulsVeteran
Summary: After the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, peace has finally began to integrate itself into society. It takes off where Naruto has just begun his studies to become a jounin. But what if he received his Parents legacy: Fuinjutsu to study alongside it and decided to see what else he could do with his new Six Paths founded abilities through new training? We can only imagine.
1. Prologue

**Naruto: The Path of the Sage**

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 **Prologue: The Beginning after the end**

 _The beginning of the new year after the Fourth Great Ninja War…_

The last few months after the battle with Kaguya and then straight after that dispelling the Infinite Tsukuyomi cast by Uchiha Madara only after one last fight with Sasuke that decided the fate of the world. But all was good as he turned over a new leaf giving Naruto his full support and at long last his respect for his capabilities. Then there was peace over the Shinobi nations, no major wars just a few skirmishes and criminals who were easy enough to persuade (put that however you want it), his friends now spent a lot more time hanging out with even more reserve than before thanks to all major conflicts coming to an end to his joy and most of all, the family he made was once again back together even if Neji was resting in a better place. The only real downside during the last few months was that Naruto had so much to talk about with him but the guy just had to be put in prison, he wasn't going to lie he understood the way things worked better than most people give him credit for but still… no need for all that chain and bonds crap, but what was even more infuriating was that after Kakashi-sensei's inauguration to become the 6th Hokage to use his authority to clear Sasuke of any crimes and Naruto's own reasoning to further push for his freedom, the freaking teme decides to go on a 'guilt trip' literally. But it was for his own good rather than ours so we all understand, and I'm glad to see that underneath all that cool demeanor he subtly hinted at returning Sakura-chan's feelings with that poke to her forehead, that moment for some reason made me want to do what Lee does; cry tears of joy seeing both my teammates who I saw as the closest things to a brother and sister get together but I did envy them wondering if I would ever get to know what that felt like.

 **Naruto's POV**

After Sasuke-teme's departure, we all split up back in the village to get back on with our lives and whilst I was wandering around the village with a few people greeting me with a little too much glorification in my eyes, but all the same gave my usual grin as I found respectful and was stopped by an Anbu who asked me to go to the Academy as requested by Lord Sixth, Kakashi-sensei.

I quickly made my way there and headed toward my old classroom and saw Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei waiting there.

I greeted "Oh, Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, what are you guys here for?"

They greeted me and we made some small talk for a while, eventually Kakashi got straight to the point and asked me "Naruto, you never got to take the Chunin exams right?" I nodded "Well… By my authority as the Sixth Hokage, I promote you to Jonin…" I stood there dumbfounded with a look of pure shock of joy until "… after you finish three years of studying"I ended panicking and tried running out the window proclaiming I'd just stay a genin until I'm Hokage. But I was knocked out of my panicking when I heard Konohamaru tell me my own words "There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage! You aren't giving up before even trying, are you?". This came along with another statement from Kakashi who told me what it took to become Hokage; it takes more than being a powerful ninja, but a sharp mind and making harsh decision for the sake of the village. So I ended up giving studying a go… which at the end of the lesson I was braindead and Iruka-sensei told me another three of studying like this then I'll be finished in no time.

Which leads me as to why I'm at Ichiraku's eating away my fatigue telling my day to Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-neechan who were happily listening. As I was so absorbed in my ramen and storytelling, I almost didn't register the fact a few people entered the stall, I turned around and saw Team 8: Kiba, Shino and Hinata (arf! Don't forget me!)… oh yeah and Akamaru too. For some reason, I really liked spending time with them, even if Kiba is a bit mean, Shino being a bit hard to understand and Hinata's natural soft and caring nature that made me for some reason not wanting to make feel uncomfortable around me. Akamaru is fine as he has Kiba around. It didn't change the fact they were some of the only few who saw me for who I was back during our Academy days and so I started a conversation.

"Hey guys! How y'all been!?" I hollered.

Shino gave me a nod and Hinata gave me a small smile and a hello whereas Kiba responded with "Yo! If it isn't the Naruto or should I say the Hero of the Fourth Great Ninja War!" I did feel pride in those words especially coming from a person I can call a friend, but a part of me felt put off by that title.

"Really? I just did what everyone else did and fought the enemy during the war like everyone else, tebayo!" I replied trying my best to be modest about the topic without taking away from the atmosphere.

Surprisingly Hinata spoke up "No Naruto, you did so much more than that! You lead the Five Allied Shinobi Nations Alliance during the most difficult time against Madara and the Ten-tails, you inspired everyone to keep fighting with your words when we wanted to give up, saved Gai-sensei from an inevitable death and saved the whole world from the Infinite Tsukuyomi! So, tell us what doesn't make you a hero?" with a conviction she rarely shows at times when its necessary, hell she didn't even blush or stutter during that speech to the point I couldn't form words and probably look stupid.

Shino nodded and added his two-cents "Hinata-san is right, that is because…"and said some long-complicated statement about how she was right and that I was a hero even though I barely understood less than half of what he said. Should I be worried about my Jounin studies if I couldn't understand much of what he said… I'll worry about that later.

Honestly, I was flattered, but mostly by what Hinata had to say and I was so mesmerised by her unique character and sincerity behind her words that I found myself staring intently at her which cause her face to flush pink and fidget with her fingers whilst looking down.

 **Third Person**

Being the oblivious and brash guy that only Naruto was, he quickly regained his happy composure and gave Hinata a huge grin that made her shy away even more. However, that didn't stop him from saying what he said next.

"Thanks, Hinata! But I think you're selling yourself short!" he put out and Hinata looked up confused but still embarrassed from his attention.

"I may have did all that, but do y'know who made that possible…?" with a dramatic pause that made Hinata wonder who, whereas Kiba was actually interested in what Naruto was going to say next and even Shino was paying close attention to him but you wouldn't notice due to his sunglasses.

"… IT WAS YOU HINATA!" Naruto shouted out, this declaration made Kiba and Shino confused but kinda happy with where this was going, especially with Hinata going all red and sputtering due to Naruto saying she was responsible for his achievements.

He continued on with a much calmer demeanour in contrast to before "When I thought about giving up so no one else would die because of me, I really wanted to give up. But you slapped some sense into me, you told me that everyone who died gave their lives for a good reason; to fight for a world to make our dreams a reality and live in peace and you held my hand and stood by my side. You helped me find my strength again, you brought me back from my darkest moment and because of that the Shinobi Alliance could win in the end. So Hinata, even if I ended the war with Sasuke, you were responsible for making it happen…" Hinata listened closely and this time she in a daze at what she was hearing from the boy, now man who had her heart and she was blown away by what she heard next "… even if you are a bit shy and quiet, that doesn't change the fact that to me you are my hero!" He exclaimed. With that Kiba was smiling at the two and Shino gave a small smirk. Hinata just stood there captivated.

However, she wasn't for long as Naruto swept her off feet in bridal style eliciting an audible "EPP!" from her, he then said "And for that guys, we should celebrate that we have someone as amazing as her among us, ramen is on me dattebayo!" while he gently plopped a blushing Hinata down on a stool next to him. Kiba gave a small chuckle whereas Shino had a wide smirk on his hidden face towards the comical scene, Shino then replied "If that's the case me and Kiba will be celebrating outside", Kiba nodded in response as he knew what he was up to and walked out with him after ordering a large serving of Gyoza for him and Akamaru, and some plain soba for Shino. Naruto was a little confused, but paid no mind to it and went back to ordering a huge number of miso ramen for both himself and Hinata, it never ceases to amaze him just how much she could eat; he swore it had something to do with the 'things' on her chest. He started a conversation with Hinata by asking her about what she has been up to lately, which she manage to stutter out that she has mostly been training and hanging out with Team 8 and visiting Kurenai-sensei and her baby. In response, he told her he understands how spending time with Kiba, Kurenai-sensei and her baby is considered hanging out but why Shino, he barely talks and anything he says is more like a riddle than a conversation he joked making Hinata stifle a giggle and in a mock serious voice "Naruto-kun! That's not nice!" but Naruto broke her into a full-blown laughing frenzy with "What can I say!? Just like his bugs he plants on people, he slides into the any group without anyone noticing" he added with a shrug, then to add to top it off he ended it quietly with "Shino and I could have done so many pranks back then if he talked just with me rather than his bugs at the same time", at this point even Kiba was laughing at Shino's expense but if one looked closely you could see him shaking a bit from anger? Or laughter?

A good half an hour or 15th bowl of ramen for both Naruto and Hinata, into the celebration, Kiba and Shino already said their goodbyes leaving them both at Ichiraku's Ramen. After talking a bit, Hinata mentioned something about the how she wished her home had a bit more colourful flowers in the compound to emulate the atmosphere that Ichiraku's gave off (Naruto actually), he surprised her with his sudden mentioning of a grass type plant that blooms white glowing leaves tinted with a gold hue that also grows lavender fruit (I don't know the name, I saw it grow in my garden at one point, I just put it in because Naruto is surprising good with flowers since he has his own garden). Hinata's eyes sparkled and she was suddenly more outgoing wanting to know more about the plants he nurtured as all the flowers he mentioned she has never heard of which was strange to him since you'd think a rich family would have the rarest of things, he was delighted to know that she liked gardening as much as he did and promised to show her when she could see him again.

Another half an hour later, they finished their ramen competition with Hinata winning by 16 bowls which had Naruto pouting that she had an unfair advantage whilst looking at her chest, but she didn't realise that was the case. They talked to each other on their ways home and split up afterwards saying "seeya later" to each other. Naruto went back home for some unknown reason feeling happy due to the warm feeling in his belly and chest staying with him for the rest of the day, but he decided not to ponder why that was but hope to spend more time with Hinata soon.

With today's events over, Naruto arrived at his little apartment which contrary to what others may believe, was very neat and clean save for a cob web in the corner of the ceiling or two. Even the unexpected large stash of books and scrolls in the two corners of his bedroom was quite organised despite being considered messy by his standards and he was no neat freak either. Never the less this was what he was looking for, he picked up a book and three scrolls that were part of his heritage he received from Kakashi-sensei when he became the Sixth Hokage after today's lesson.

With a look of determination and eagerness for what he was about to learn, he entered his mindscape and greeted Kurama "Yo, Kurama-chan!", the fox yelled back in response "Don't you ever called me that Kit!". Laughing at how easy it was to unnerve Kurama Naruto apologised before asking seriously "You ready to start working on Fuinjutsu Kurama?", the giant fox in question nodded "I am, I've picked a thing or two about it as I always was at the receiving end of it" Naruto chuckled "Quiet Kit, anyway, even with my timeless knowledge, Fuinjutsu isn't exactly a straight-forward art, sure you can know all the basics and all the advance knowledge, but even then only a few people can be called seal masters, hell even Hagoromo couldn't be called one as he just did with only chakra at his command when he seal the Jubi. It was until your ancestor Ashura, that sealing became a thing and I would consider him to be a seals master."

Naruto let this information sink in, but remained undeterred "I don't care, that was what they could do, I know I'm not the sharpest when it comes to theory, but I do know I have a lot of ideas I want to try out so even if it takes a while, I won't give up trying to be the best I can be at what I was supposed to be born for, dattebayo!" Kurama just observed him intently before cracking up "oh boy, you never will change that will of fire of yours, well not to blow smoke up your ass, you being an Uzumaki and better yet a reincarnation of Ashura, you find you will have the strongest natural affinity for Fuinjutsu meaning you could potentially become the next greatest seal master after him, your father and that perverted Godfather of yours. But even then, you gotta work for it Kit" Naruto replied "I wouldn't have it any other way! No point getting something if it was easy tebayo!?" Kurama nodded, "By the way…" Naruto continued "I wanna train myself in a few new way since I got the Super Gramps to awaken my Six Paths Yang Chakra, y'know how you have a tendency towards an element or two, it affects your fighting style including taijutsu" Kurama grunted in understanding "I was wondering since I have all five elemental affinities being pretty strong already, maybe I could mix in a few basic moves from each derived elemental fighting style and make my own style being unpredictable as people say, so I could make let's say 'Uzumaki Style: Naruto's Six Paths Yang (light, life force or physical) Spiral Storm Fist'! or 'Six Paths Yang fist' for short" instead of laughing like Naruto was, Kurama actually was quite taken back with his suggestion "that could work" he blurted out and Naruto was knocked out of his laughing fit out of shock.

"Kit, get ready since we are gonna grind you into the ground with what we have planned for you" Kurama said evilly, "Wait I only know that we plan on studying Fuin and maybe Shinobi training but nothing else I know from you! What is it!?" Naruto screamed.

Kurama said in a dark voice "We are making you someone on par if not better than the Sage". Naruto gulped.

And that is how his journey to becoming a sage of Hagoromo's level began.

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 **There you guys go, this is my first Naruto fanfiction but don't let that stop you people from giving me honest reviews because it helps me improve my writing and story planning.**

 **Well as you can see, I added in my own theories to this fanfic about the Naruto universe. I have seen in some instances that Naruto shows signs of already knowing how to do most of these things without actually knowing what they are such as his Henge being an actual transformation rather than an illusion. So in my fanfic, it'll have Naruto being able to create his own seals before he even serious studied them since he must have pull out the random ninja tool from somewhere. As the story moves on, I'll go on about Naruto's true feelings towards Hinata as well as why he hasn't responded to her confession.**

 **Tell me what you guys think of the development between Naruto and Hinata as well.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Naruto: The Path of the Sage**

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 **I forgot to add this the last time but, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and all of the other variants (mostly games) are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **I hoped the prologue was enjoyable everyone and thanks to all those who actually read this fanfiction. It means a lot to me. I will try to funnel out more of my grammatical errors as I write.**

 **Also, I don't know how to do polls but I am planning on also starting another NaruHina fanfiction which is based on Naruto's healing being a bloodline that was only enhanced by Kurama's excess and powerful chakra, but it always was his due to his mother, Namikaze neé Uzumaki Kushina's bloodline which apparently included very large chakra pools with it being adaptable to other chakras, a natural tendency towards Fuinjutsu allowing members of the said clan to become god-sent seal masters and in this fanfiction, perfect regeneration to the point where organs and limbs can be grown back including eyes. So What this idea I have is that, after the battle with Pein, Naruto after a talk with Minato, his father tells him he can save Hinata via a blood transfusion since his genes are full of life and can speed up others healing which he heads to Hinata first thing after the crowd cheers him on. Naruto, however, finds out she's okay but the Hyuga guards won't him see her due to the need for recovery since it was discovered that Hinata could no longer bear children due to the attack she took. Knowing this, Naruto being the dense and loud idiot says he can help with that and reveals his mother's hidden bloodline to the Hyuga clan; the perfect regeneration which completely heals Hinata including her womb to her joy. Now that the secret is out, the Hyuga now sees the potential that any offspring Naruto and Hinata may bear will have perfect Byakugan eyes that can just grow back if need be. Now yes it will be one of those fanfictions where a dojutsu clan wants Naruto's genes in the family, but this ain't a typical drama and romance fanfiction. Naruto and Hinata's friends who have been trying to get them together now have the support of the entire Hyuga clan. Now Naruto and Hinata will have to try resist each other when a one night stand is actually being encouraged by the Hyuga clan. I'll set up a poll soon, so let me know if you guys would want that.**

 **Summary: The story begins with Naruto after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, during his Jounin studies, he also picks up his family's and most of all the Uzumaki clan's archives. His newly discovered affinity for Fuinjutsu enhanced by his Ashura** **ancestry will allow him to become history's greatest sealing master after him. Also he starts to experiment and train in new ways due to having all five elements as well as Six Paths Yang release chakra. Taking inspiration from his Six Paths Sage mode, he also trains himself in kenjutsu using dual swords to fill in for his now dormant Truth-seeking Orbs. Watch him become a Sage that surpasses the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother, Hamura as he becomes stronger to meld peace into the Shinobi world. Also, speaking of Hamura, Naruto will be getting quite familiar with Sage's younger brother's lavender-haired descendant.**

 **Note: Yes, the Tenseigan will be introduced in my story, but the Last won't occur because as much as I loved the movie, I feel that Hinata should have actually gone on a information gathering mission with Naruto to investigate a strange disturbance at the location where Hagoromo and Hamura first lived. From there you guys can guess what will happen.**

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 **Chapter 1: A change in style**

 _A week into Naruto's new regime_

 **Third Person**

Basking in Konoha no Sato's afternoon sun beyond its walls, situated considerably far from many of its training grounds, in fact close to where Konoha and Suna forces first encountered Deidara, was the one and only, Uzumaki Naruto in his own 'personal training field' that he easily made himself with a few Rasen Shurikens here and there along with his self-taught planting skills to make things look nicer and more natural.

Why he made one so far away, well to avoid harming anything and anyone near the village due to the scale his techniques can level, even if it was just a taijutsu move. Also, it was to avoid the fangirls, and unfortunately some fanboys from getting too eager to 'greet' him. Thanks to them, he took back everything he said to Sasuke about why not date his fans back during their academy and genin days; they were terrifying!

Back to Naruto, after waking up, he ran to his training field at 7 in the morning on the dot to begin his new training routine, after completing his new daily routine which consisted of a personal mix of his 'Six Paths Yang Fist' kata which was basically taking the basic circuit routine out of every style and Taijutsu moves base on a certain element, for example:

A Water-based style called the Cruising Waves which revolves around maintaining a constant momentum in all your movement and smashing all your bodyweight into a target without halting the users motion.

A Fire-based style like the 'Igniting Flare' where just like a fire, it starts off from nothing then lights up and before you know it is a raging flame then repeat; basically, it is based around adding gradual pressure on an opponent until they 'burn out'.

You get the idea!

He also modified the moves to suit his rather spontaneous tendencies.

He practiced the katas from all five elemental-based taijutsu styles he could actually learn in an alternating pattern so his body will never get used to the movements to increase his overall adaptability for about 3 hours. Then he moves on to his callisthenics, a warmup of 3 sets of 15 slow push-ups, followed by 3 sets of 10 pull-ups on a random tree branch and 3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats which loosened up his joints for his actual workout. But before that, he activates some gravity seals he designed himself, which by the way, could be set higher than any other gravity seal in existence, on his body to ensure that he got a tough workout for about roughly an hour and a half. Then he spends the remaining 30 minutes meditating before going back to the village.

This was the routine Naruto and Kurama made and agreed on. Ever since he started, his friends and other people well acquainted with him were genuinely shocked and worried to see him in the early afternoons so drained of energy when he'd usually be bouncing around.

 **Back in the Village, Ichiraku's Ramen**

The first one to inquire about this was none other than Konoha's shiest resident, Hyuga Hinata, since the day Naruto began hanging out with her after his first Jounin lesson, they have been spending a lot more time together and this became widespread knowledge due to Ino. She was so scared of the low-energy levels that Naruto was displaying that she even brought out her healing balm and even told him to see Sakura to get better, honestly, Naruto found her frantic worrying cute to be honest, but all good things must come to an end.

"Don't worry Hinata, I just started a new training schedule that starts early in the morning when no one is awake" he assured her along with poking his chest where his heart would be. Although Hinata was relieved that he didn't come down with anything, it still didn't stop her from advising him.

"O-Okay, if you say so Na-Naruto-kun but still please don't push y-yourself too hard too often" she told him.

"Hey! Come on Hinata, you know me, I need to push myself hard if I even want to improve just even a little bit" he exclaimed, but what came next made him surrender.

She made a puppy-eyed look and said, "Just not too often okay, I-I don't want to s-see you get hurt". Naruto's head went haywire 'How the hell are you meant to say no to that!?' he questioned himself inwardly whilst keeping a calm look outside.

"Okay Hinata! I promise you that I won't hurt myself so you won't need to worry about me, tebayo!" he promised with a hint of a pink blush on his face.

She smiled "Mm, t-thank you, b-by the way, how are y-you training with just on-one-arm? You can b-b-barely eat with your left hand" she asked stuttering.

Naruto gave her a proud smile, "I use a chakra arm to substitute for my missing arm to avoid the problem during training only, I don't want to use it for something like ramen" he declared.

"B-But wouldn't it be b-better if you used one in-instead of m-me f-feeding y-you, I'm sure t-that I b-bother you" she finished with a sad look.

Naruto rebutted with "Hey come on, don't make that face, I like it when you feed me!" he admitted with no shame, but Hinata took a red hue and began stuttering the word 'what' in disbelief. "You're always helping me, even when I don't ask, others just greet me and go away but you stick with me and I like that since I like having you around" he added making Hinata feel faint.

"I-I-I d-don't know what to s-say Naruto" she stuttered out still embarrassed.

It was the truth, he really did like having her around even though he didn't quite understand why he did but she always made him feel more like himself when they were together and made his heart feel bigger. Then in a moment of epiphany, Naruto proclaimed,

"Y'know Hinata, I actually don't like people like you…" Hinata's breath hitched with tears beginning to well in her eyes "… I just like you because you're you!" the tears threatening to come out stopped, which were replaced by a face of pure bliss and then she fainted onto Naruto's lap face first.

"Ehh… ehh!? Hinata, was it something I said!?" Ayame and Teuchi were just crackling up at the scene that unfolded, unfortunately for the hyperactive blond, Hinata's teammates, Kiba with Akamaru and Shino, and Kurenai-sensei just happened to walk in after the she just fainted and just saw Hinata's face on his lap with his left hand on the back of her head but somehow still sitting on her stool; the image suggested a much more vulgar scenario than it should have.

Suddenly Naruto felt a chill down his spine, followed by a massive amount of killing intent directed towards him that rivalled Kaguya's. He turned his head around slowly and twitching in fear, to bear witness to Kiba cracking his knuckles, Shino's Kikaichu buzzing around him violently and Kurenai-sensei with a sickly-sweet smile. What they all shared was a dark purple aura.

Kiba went first "Oi Naruto, I know you two have been hanging out a lot, but what do you think you are doing to our teammate in public!?" he spat out with malice in his voice.

"I coincide with Kiba, why is that it is because you seem to be taking her away from everyone else and off to anywhere by yourselves and that leads us to conclude that you are taking advantage of her fondness to force her into some explicit activities." Shino stated menacingly with his Kikaichu bugs buzzing louder. 'What!?' he exclaimed in his mind 'Okay, I admit, I have been hanging out with her a lot recently but I never just up and grabbed her from our other friends!?' inwardly argued.

"W-w-wait! This isn't what it seems like! You got this al-"he tried to placate his situation. But Kurenai cut him off "Oh we know exactly what is going on Naruto. And we'll see to it that Hinata is safe."

"Ho-hold up, let finish- ack arghh!" Naruto tried to defend himself but got cut off painfully.

TOO LATE!

He was bombarded with a Gatsuga combo from Kiba and Akamaru, with Shino's bugs biting him and sucking out his chakra, and to add to the mix Kurenai cast a genjutsu on him where he laid witness to all the ramen around him being eaten in front of him or being replaced by green vegetables that have spoiled and force fed it by a Genjutsu Kurenai.

All that was heard from Naruto was a loud "NNNOOOOOO!" and the rest of the Ichiraku's stand being destroyed in the process. Fortunately, before any real harm was done, Teuchi flared out some crazy killer intent, even more so than all of team 8, with the exception of a passed out Hinata, that was directed to Naruto earlier. He demanded them to pay for the repairs and Naruto and Hinata's check whilst telling them what happened, of course they weren't entirely convinced until Hinata woke up telling them that nothing happened and she just fainted because Naruto said something really sweet to her, although that part Naruto didn't catch as he was still disorientated.

A few apologies to Naruto for doubting his morals and actions towards Hinata from her team (though one was half-hearted). Hinata turned her attention to Naruto who somehow recovered, but she was blushing madly at him along with a bit of drool leaking from the corner of her mouth at what she saw, of course she has seen guys with no shirt on, as Kiba really had no problem with hanging up his cloths around her and she has seen a lot of her clan's men without their top robes on due to her giving them medical attention at times but was never really too bothered by it, impressed with some of their physiques yes a little, but never really amazed. However, it was different with Naruto, the attack left his shirt all shredded revealing what was underneath showing that he was so much more built than other guys; he had strong looking vascular arms (well arm for now), hanging off his slightly boulder shoulders where you could see every muscle fiber on them, a very well-built and sculpted pectorals that made a solid square without a hint of bodyfat with clearly seen separation between the upper and lower sections, he didn't have a six-pack like the guys she has seen shirtless, but instead, Naruto had a perfectly formed eight-pack with fully worked obliques and to top it off his back could be seen from the from forming a perfect V-taper. However, she was knocked out of her hypnotised state when Naruto asked her "Hey Hinata, you coming or are you gonna stone all day?" oblivious to the fact that he was being eaten by her eyes and his state of undress.

"Ah.. U-um, yes I'm coming!" she hastily replied whilst following him. Along the way to wherever Naruto was taking her, she noticed that everyone especially the female populace was staring at Naruto with hungry eyes. She would be a hypocrite if she told them to buzz off, but instead Hinata decided tell Naruto "Ano, N-Naruto-kun?" whilst averting her eyes from the 'delectable' in front of her, the said 'delectable' answered "Wassup!?" "Ano, where are headed?" she timidly replied. Naruto brightened up and told her "Oh, we're headed to Tenten's store, I have something I wanted to get for a while" Hinata tilted her head sideways "Eh, w-what is it t-that you wanted to b-buy?" she asked confused as Naruto recently hasn't been on a mission that involved combat, especially with the war being over and hoping that he was going to buy a shirt too (okay, maybe not teehee).

 **At Tenten's store**

The pair finally arrived at their destination, Tenten seeing customers was excited as not many people come as often as before, but to her glee and disappointment due to wanting customer, she saw Hinata come in thinking that maybe she was just here to talk and maybe ask for advice on sealing for her own ambitions; the infamous Caged Bird Seal's abolishment which Tenten from her days researching the seal on Neji's forehead, she came up short and was really sorry towards Hinata, but she wasn't as good at Fuinjutsu as many people believed. However, what caught her off-guard was to see a shirtless Naruto walk in with her which made her blush madly before summoning a few blunted weapons towards him making him squirm and shouting "Naruto! Put a shirt on you idiot!" He looked at Tenten dumbly until he looked down and noticed his shirtless state "Oh, so that's why everyone was staring at me! Why didn't you tell me earlier Hinata!?" he whined, Hinata in response meekly said "I-I thought that was w-why you decided to come here" Tenten eye twitched at his denseness and Hinata's blind faith in him.

Tenten recovered "Okay, then why don't you buy one now? All good are on sale" she cheerfully stated hoping to make an exchange for once.

"Actually, I only came here to buy a pair of weapons, but since I don't have a shirt and can't afford both I guess it'll have to wait for tommor-" he was gonna finish until Hinata suggested "That's okay N-Naruto-kun, you probably really need that weapon so I'll help you buy it." "But I don't want to leech off you" Naruto protested.

In a rare moment of boldness, Hinata suggested again "I'll lend y-you my jacket since i-i-it could fit you" she began taking it off before he could protest again.

Well he really couldn't protest as soon as her jacket came off, now it was his time to be caught in a trance due to seeing Hinata's top half of her figure in a skin-tight mesh shirt. 'When was Hinata so well grown? Like damyum! She could bag any guy she wanted, I just wanna- NOPE! Bad Naruto! She's your best friend! (Sorry Sasuke) Not one of my special limited-edition bowls of ramen I save for special occasions! But I'd love to have a special occasion with Hi- No! Stop thinking of her that way! She is your friend and too good for you idiot!' Unaware of the inner conflict happening in his head, Hinata nudge him snapping him out of his trance "H-here put this on" she told him with a heavy blush on her cheeks 'Oh my god! I can't believe I'm doing this! Does he think I look good or does he think I eat too much?' she rapidly thought about the possibilities.

Naruto mistook her blush for being mad at him for staring at her so perversely, so he tried to make unnecessary amends "S-sorry Hi-Hinata! I just got caught off guard by how nice you look underneath- I mean without a jacket! Yeah! That's it, datttebayo!" he claimed sporting a blush rivalling hers.

Inwards Hinata was doing a victory dance at Naruto's thoughts about her figure. 'Maybe I should show up to him like this more often, but then other guys will see and I only want him to see me like this' she mused. Only to be interrupted by a laughing Tenten who bluntly said "Oi, you guys done eyeballing each other so we can either do business or you guys 'get down to business'" she finished her sentence with the latter option being in a sly tone embarrassing the two even further much to Tenten's delight.

The two mortified individuals quickly regained their composure with Naruto slipping on Hinata's bulky jacket that was rather form-fitting on him; the warmth from the jacket made him have more dirty thoughts that would've made Jiraiya bleed to death if he was still around.

"So, Naruto, you said you wanted a weapon earlier, are you after some kunai and shuriken again?" Tenten inquired in her usual cheery tone. Both Hinata and Tenten were surprised by his answer "Nah, I'm looking for a weapon set like dual swords or something similar, ya'know like the Land of Iron's Samurai" he nonchalantly dismissed her prediction.

"Ohohoho, finally seeing the awesomeness of weapons now, I see. Well I didn't expect you to take interest in weapons now that there isn't much action going on nowadays. But back to you, I see you already figured out what suits you already, when I saw the way you with all your Rasengan barrages, I noticed you had a natural tendency to either slightly slash it or thrust it instead of simply slamming it like a street brawler like you normally would. So, I'd say given your height right now, a set of dual Nodachi will be perfect for you in the long run" Tenten advised him in a matter-of-fact manner completely impressing him.

"Woah, you could tell all that from the way I fight!? You are amazing y'know!" Naruto warmly complimented but Tenten kindly shrugged it off "Eh, whatever, I'll bring the set that best suits you in sec" she informed. A minute later, she brought out a pair of huge heavy looking Katanas that didn't have a sheathe and Tenten wasn't kidding, it could only be used by someone of Naruto height which was much taller than he was a few months ago and it wasn't his 18th birthday yet.

Hinata would never admit it but she was envious of his sudden growth spurt since Naruto was now around 180cm tall whereas she stopped growing at about 160cm and to add injury to insult; he was still growing! All she ever seen him eat was ramen! Does that mean he could have been taller if he had a proper diet!? She pondered and inwardly pouting why she never inherited her father's height, but then again, she wanted to be like her late mother Hyuga Hikari.

Nevertheless, Naruto's eyes held a childlike gleam when he laid eyes upon the Dual Nodachi, "So cool! I can't wait to try them out, how much are they Tenten!?" he eagerly exclaimed making Hinata giggle, "About 10000 Ryo", Naruto was about to slam down Gama-chan until she stopped him "…But you can get it half price if you give me some of your seals" she negotiated, Naruto nodded in response before asking "Okay, but which ones do you want?" He was happy to comply.

Tenten eagerly asked whilst flailing her arms like a little kid getting a present "Oh! Oh! The small explosives ones that you made into a fire cracker seal that also made a good firework effect, can you make those formulas separate and increase the size and number of chain explosions if you can they would be great in both battles and parties, what else? Oh yeah! The beacon seal you said you accidentally made since it'd make finding people easy if you need to and it would complete my homing technique. And! And! That really cool summoning seal you designed yesterday, the one that could summon whatever equipment or supply you needed in any amount, no matter where you were as long as it was within range of the seal where you left them! With that Shinobi wouldn't have to hold so many scrolls containing different equipment when you can just leave it at home and summon it whenever they need it".

Hinata on the other hand was surprised. So many different thoughts went through her head 'When did Naruto learn Fuinjutsu? Why is Tenten asking him for seals? As far as I know, she is the more experienced one in seals? Could have I been wrong? Well if Tenten is asking Naruto for seals and his services, does that mean he is better than her? Maybe he could, no I can't get my hopes too high, but maybe, just maybe' thinking about the possibility that Naruto could have help in her endeavour to find a solution to removing the Caged Bird Seal.

"Ano, Ten-chan, why are asking N-Naruto-kun for seals? I thought you already made your own?" she asked out of curiosity, she wasn't doubting both of their skills, but she did want to know when this arrangement happened.

"Oh Hinata, I do make my own seals, like most ninjas we can make a basic storage or explosive seal, but I can confidently say I specialise in summoning seals. But when I was on a stroll in the forest, I saw Naruto in training grounds 7 writing something in an open space so I got curious…"

 _ **Flashback seal**_

Tenten was just taking a stroll through the forest just outside Konoha's walls, however she stumbles across training grounds 7 where she spots Naruto writing down a seal of some sort, now she was no slouch when it came to seals and people see her as the best at seals due to her ravenous usage of storage and summoning seals for her weapons but that's all her expertise in seals ever applied to; taking the basics and expanding its use, nothing new or unique.

What she saw Naruto do was complicated even for her, she just figured out it was a type of explosive formula, but it also featured two symbols she could make out from this distance on the small tag; a kanji for repetition and a symbol that meant copy, but everything else see could or could not see was a completely new alien language for her mind that even she believed would never understand. When she saw that Naruto back off a bit and perform a hand seal, the following result was a beautiful scene of large colourful explosions that resembled fireworks but the best part was that despite only one tag was used, it resulted in at least 15 more explosions each one equal in magnitude and force. Each of those explosion on their own put even some of the best explosive tags Tenten has ever seen look like a spark compared to Naruto's seal, and those tags were from Iwa whose 'seal masters' pride themselves in stone-sturdy standards.

Out of excitement and a willingness to learn more she appeared out on the training field and asked Naruto questions when he began doing Fuinjutsu and what seals he has been working on so far.

 _ **Flashback end**_

"What Naruto made makes my work look like a kid's school project, so ever since then I have been nagging Naruto for his sealing services for both business and personal needs" Tenten finished reciting.

"That's amazing Naruto!" Hinata chanted, happiest knowing that Naruto keeps surprising everyone when you least expect it.

Naruto looked at Hinata "Huh? Yeah, you got that right, Fuinjutsu is amazing! To think that a few strokes of drawing on a surface could make your imagination literally come to life!" he glorified the art whilst completely missing the point of what, or rather who was amazing.

Hinata just gave him a small smile, 'I was meant to say you were amazing, but that's just like you, always giving the credit to others'. Then the big question came "So Na-Naruto-kun, how l-long have you been studying Fuinjutsu?" she asked meekly.

Naruto replied nonchalantly "About a week" along with a shrug.

Tenten and Hinata however found themselves wide-eyed and jaws on the floor. "EEHHHHH!" They screamed their disbelief out loud. Tenten reacted as well since the response she got from him the first time was in his exact words "For a while now".

Tenten was the first to speak "That's impossible, no one on Earth can study Fuinjutsu for a week and start making 100% original sealing methods!"

Hinata recovered next "I-I don't d-d-doubt y-y-you Naruto-k-kun, but it j-just seems so un-un-likely!" for a lack of a better statement.

"Well I started seriously studying Fuinjutsu for about a week now" he put much emphasis on the word 'seriously' earning a questioning look from the two girls whilst Naruto put down the money and seals in question whilst taking the dual Nodachi set then sending it back to his apartment via an unseen seal. Hinata and Tenten looked at the seals, the latter was kidding; Naruto's seals were very advanced, hell it was so complicated that it made all those medical studies look like a children's picture book.

"You girls remember my pranking days?" they nodded "Ever wondered how I made all those traps on the go so quickly and pulled out random things out of seemingly nowhere from my body?" the girls eyes began to widen in realisation "I never knew at the time, but I was actually using seals most of the times when I ran out of traps I prepared or need extra equipment for huge pranks. I discovered that my random scribbles one day just did something I thought was magic and later after I trained under Jiraiya, I learnt that what I used turned out to be Fuinjutsu which might be why some of my graffiti exploded, that's why I never took it seriously under Pervy Sage's guidance since all he gave me about the topic was stuff I figured out about it on my own through trial and error" he declared.

"Okay, I get that, but that still should not have made you get to this level suddenly after a week of picking it back up" Tenten argued. "Well that is the joy of having 1000 shadow clones studying the same topic and experimenting in hundreds of different ways whilst I do my physical training" Hinata piped up "W-What does Shadow Clones h-have anything t-to do with your sudden improvement?" she asked.

"Anything they learn or experience, it gets sent back to me after dispelling except physical body development, which I'm making a new clone technique for that one, say a fire technique would take 2 days to learn on your own, but having one clone alongside you would cut the time in half. So, girls do the math, 7 days of studying Fuinjutsu with 1000 shadow clones for 5 hours each day, which is 5000 hours of experience which is how many days?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Oh" Tenten and Hinata finally understanding the reason behind his progression rate but then Hinata asked one thing "Ano Na-Naruto-k-kun, why don't you u-use clones t-to fi-finish your jounin st-studies faster?"

"For my personal training sure, I'll do what I can to get better no matter what as long as I put the work in. For things like that no, everyone else goes through it too. It would be unfair and if I want to be Hokage, I need to be among the people I protect, not above or below." Naruto stated with conviction.

Tenten smiled at his determination whilst Hinata found that if possible, falling even more in love with Naruto. Soon eventually after the little revelation about Naruto, he and Hinata needed to head back to their respective homes. But Naruto remembered he was wearing her jacket and still had about 5000 Ryo, just enough for three sets of Ninja clothing that caught his eye (I'm guessing Ninja clothes are of much higher quality than civilian clothing). He picked out a black military vest with an orange zipper and red mini cape over his entire former right hand, and three pairs of burnt orange pants to go along with his black sandals. He needed some new mission and training gear, but he did it because for some odd reason he hated the feeling of other people staring at Hinata's jacket deprived figure. Then he slipped on a complimentary mesh shirt that came with it and one of his new jackets and did he liked the cape since it gave him an idea whilst he handed Hinata back her jacket.

They headed back to their homes and most others retired for the night, but Naruto however immediately went to work on adding sealing formulas to his new outfits' red capes. He couldn't wait for the next day to come so he could try it out during training.

 **The next day, 5:30am, sunrise**

Naruto woke up in a zombie-like state, therefore he took a cold shower to wake him up whilst brushed his teeth at the same time. Back then, he would have made some ramen to eat right away after he cooked it for breakfast, but one thing Kurama suggested was to run all the way to his training field and finish training first every morning before breakfast, since it worked well for the monks who practised Ninshu all those thousand years ago and needless to say, Naruto saw the benefits; he could fight or do physically intensive labour for a longer period of time at full strength minus the power ups like sage mode on an empty stomach, meaning he could fight much longer when he was satisfied.

So, he just made it and stored them in some of his personal storage seals on a talisman tag; the thing special about his ones was that once you store an item inside it, that said item would never expire since time didn't move in his storage seal and that was great for him since it mean he could have something to eat as soon as he was done training.

 **Outside the village**

While he was making a full sprint halfway toward his training field, someone along the way called out his name in an overly dramatic voice.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Lee called whilst he was running towards him "Are you taking a youthful jog this youthful morning!? He asked with a twinkle in his eyes. How early does this guy get up to be so energetic already?

"Um… I guess you can say I am. What cha up to Lee?" Naruto answered and asked.

Lee exclaimed "I'm fanning my Flames of Youth by getting in some morning training so I can protect the peace, but seeing you put so much effort today makes me feel hot-blooded! So as punishment, I'll do 500 laps outside Konoha's walls!" with wide eyes, making Naruto sweat drop.

Then Naruto had an idea, Lee, despite his obvious 'Youthful' quirks, he was the best Taijutsu user around the entire Shinobi Nations without a doubt. Having Lee train with him would brighten up the morning, so having some 'youth' isn't so bad every now and then.

"Or you can come and train with me? I'd love to have a training partner to test myself against" Naruto proposed with his wide grin. Lee responded with his own smile literally flashed, did it upgrade? And of course, his 'Good guy' pose to tell him he would love to. Therefore, from where they left off they continued sprinting all the way to Naruto's personal training and arrived there within an hour, exactly 2 minutes before 7, meaning Naruto knew he was getting faster.

After the usual warmup and katas (or circuit training) they both went through whilst encouraging each other. Naruto decided to do what he needed Lee for.

"Yo, Lee! I've been training in a new Taijutsu style for a while now and I'd like to spar with you to see how far I've come!" Naruto said knowing Lee would never pass up a chance like this. He was not disappointed. Lee's eyes shone "Of course Naruto-kun! I get the chance to fight my eternal rival in hard-work! Let's see how far we've come!" he exclaimed while he took off his weights and took his Goken stance. Naruto likewise took his own and what Lee saw surprised him, instead of seeing Naruto take a stance with him putting weight on his left foot at the front and bouncing back and forth. He saw Naruto's feet spread slight wider than shoulder length apart with the left foot edged forward in front of his body and holding his left arm in front hooked whilst twisting his waist one direction and the other repeatedly. His right arm would have been held next to his face if he still had it, so he opted for leaving it covered in his red cape.

Nevertheless, the two geniuses of hard-work clashed forearms with each other in the centre of the training field creating small crater around them. Lee then tried to set the pace by planting his left foot into the ground to pivot his body using his right leg to initiate a whirling kick combo dubbed 'Leaf Kicking combo', if Naruto was anything like he was before he started training, he would have flipped back but instead he jumped a little letting Lee's leg hook one of his feet to make himself cartwheel then he used the momentum to slice the wind downwards with his right foot before attempting to slam Lee down into the ground.

However, Lee using his hard-earned speed handsprang out of the way and laid witness to the area Naruto's unexpected kick uprooted which was at least three times larger than crater made earlier. Seeing this, Lee decided to open two of the gates to even the power gap between him and Naruto whilst hoping to gain an advantage in the speed department so he dashed forward hoping to catch him from behind. However, to Lee's surprise, Naruto kept up with him when he leaped back to avoid being blindsided whilst simultaneously throwing a left hook at him (Naruto was glad he had deactivated his gravity seals after his kick had landed or he would have been clobbered). Lee managed to narrowly avoid it by leaning back on time proving he had just a small advantage in speed despite two gates being opened, but what he didn't expect was for Naruto to transition into a butterfly flip motion using his legs to lock Lee's arms and head. And when they both landed on the ground with Lee face down, Naruto then laid back on Lee's legs to prevent him from kicking him off using chakra-enhanced strength. With that the spar came to an end in just 3 minutes.

Naruto relented his hold on Lee causing his to shoot right back up ignoring any fatigue he had from using two of the gates. "That was amazing Naruto-kun! A youthful display of your skills! I lost so I must train harder with 10,000 mountain climbers as a warm-up! Until then Naruto-kun, I'll challenge to another spar!" Lee shouted before running off, Naruto didn't have a chance to say goodbye.

With that spar, Naruto knew he had gotten better, he didn't even need to use shadow clones or sage mode to beat Lee in a straight-up Taijutsu match when he used two inner gates.

He got so excited about his achievement that he entered his mindscape to speak to Kurama. "Yo! Kurama, did you see that!? I did all those cool moves out of nowhere! I guess all this mastering the basics of every elemental Taijutsu style really works, huh!? I did all that by instinct as well, dattebayo!" Naruto excitedly bragged, Kurama on the other hand didn't have to train himself like Naruto, was still asleep so his first response was to yell "PISS OFF KIT! I'm still asleep and yes that was pretty good you are definitely getting better" he ended before severing the mental connection. Naruto however, kept grinning like an idiot when he brought out his new Dual Odachi and shadow fought with them with a chakra arm replacing his right-arm as if he was using his Six Paths Sage mode rods before he got out his stored ramen and chowed down on it in a few seconds. He even kept grinning on the way back to the village.

 **Konoha, near the Bean Jam restaurant**

Naruto finally got back, then he decided walk around the village until he saw the place that made his second favourite food; Sweet bean Jam, or sensai. Heading inside, he saw Sakura and Ino together on a table.

He cheerfully greeted them "Hey! Sakura-chan, Ino how are things going?" he asked

"Oh, Naruto! It's been awhile, we've been fine just talking about the new medical program and mostly just the latest trends." Sakura informed.

"Yeah, say have you heard that rumour, the one about people saying that they saw Neji's spirit wandering around the village?" Ino asked hoping for something fun to talk about. Neji's name pulled on Naruto's heart, but he didn't let it show since he would have wanted him to grow passed his death.

Instead what she got was Naruto shivering from fear of a Neji ghost haunting him whenever he was getting overly friendly with Hinata (watch the SD series to know what I mean).

"Seriously, you're the world's hero and you are afraid of ghost!?" Sakura accused. "Hey, a reanimated zombie Ninja or some Chakra Goddess? Hell yeah! Bring it on! But a ghost ninja who you can't touch, nah-uh never!" Naruto argued back.

"Ku-ku, he's got a point actually!" Ino exclaimed and agreed with him, Sakura also did but begrudgingly so.

They talked about many random topics, nothing of sustenance except maybe for the medical program that was being implemented across the Allied Nations. Until one topic came up; relationships.

"So Ino, how are things going with claiming Sai? Sakura slyly asked her for the details causing Ino to flush a little.

"Oh, just fine, he finally comes to my flower shop to ask me for my advice on colouring for his drawing!" Ino squealed loudly almost making Naruto go deaf.

"Anyway, what about you Sakura, any progress with Sasuke?" Ino asked back whilst giving her the eyebrows.

Sakura however deflated a bit "Oh it's okay, but I haven't gotten a letter from him ever since he left on his journey", Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder "No worries Sakura-chan, he'll see you, don't lose faith in him because he believes in you" Naruto comforted her with a big grin. She thanked him gently whilst throwing his hand off herself. This talk about relationship struggles between the girls somehow managed to remind both of them a question they've been meaning to ask Naruto for about a week now.

"So, Naruto, during the time we haven't seen you, we heard you and Hinata have been spending a lot of time together. What's going on there?" Ino asked hoping for some spicy details with Sakura intently listening.

"Oh, Hinata and I just met up at some time last week at Ichiraku's, then we started talking…" the girls violently cut him off "YEAH! And then…?" making Naruto sweat drop.

"I found that Hinata when you get to know her is a really cool and fun person to hang out with once you get passed her shyness. I never thought that someone from a clan as boring as the Hyuga would be into something colourful like flowers, oh and she make a bad day become the best day by just being around!" Naruto described her surprising the two loud-mouthed girls with his thoughts.

"Anything else you like about her?" Ino asked wanting more details and Sakura too even though she didn't voice it.

Naruto took a thoughtful pose until his nose bleed slightly "And she looks real good without a jacket on! Better than you two even! Makes me wonder why no one goes after her" he pondered before being bopped on the head by the two girls who grew tick marks on their heads.

"Oh, if she really looks that much better than us, then why not go hang out with her instead of us right now!?" Sakura voiced her thoughts for both herself and Ino, but they didn't expect Naruto to get up and head towards the door.

"As a matter I will, she is more fun to be with anyway!" Naruto exclaimed then added "And she's even pretty on the inside!" before going out of the door leaving two kunoichi with their jaws on the floor due to the bomb Naruto dropped. However, that didn't last long as they heard a loud thud behind them. Looking behind them, they saw Tenten with a freshly fainted and steaming Hinata on a table in the far back corner, they put two and two together and figured she must have heard what nice things Naruto had to say about her.

"Well I guess we now know that Naruto might have a thing or two for little Hinata here" Tenten playfully jested.

"I know, to believe that knucklehead could be so sweet about a girl, heck, he has never even said anything like that about you Sakura" Ino squealed.

"Oh, please, that guy never even liked me the way he makes everyone think he likes me" Sakura put out their while rolling her eyes and earning some questioning looks from Ino and Tenten. "You girls remember how Naruto always tried to beat Sasuke at everything?" they nodded confirming they remember, so Sakura continued "He never once, talked or even looked at me for more than a second until everyone started muttering how I liked Sasuke" their eyes all widened in understanding including Hinata who had just woken up, "Not only that, but I think he's always actually had a thing for Hinata since then as well" again they were left confused again, Hinata was blushing obviously at the claim.

Sakura signed "Do you remember how during class sometime, three certain guys would be picking on or beating Naruto if they could" they nodded "Well Naruto picked a fight with them saying he's gonna be Hokage, but really it was to protect someone from them even if it meant getting beaten, tell you who that was?" they all looked to the girl who just woke up in time to hear the revelation "HINATA!" they yelled whilst she said "M-ME!?" at the same time.

"Yes Hinata, if Naruto really didn't feel anything towards you, do you believe he would have still come to your rescue? I mean that must mean you take a pretty big place in his heart" Sakura told Hinata who was blushing hotly now and feeling really giddy.

"I-I-I see, your right!" Hinata replied with a faraway look in her lavender orbs and a bright smile on her face.

 **With Naruto**

"Hmmm, I can't find her, well maybe tomorrow" he said to himself.

He could always hang out with his favourite dojutsu using friend next time.

 **With Sasuke somewhere**

"Achoo!" a dark-cloaked Sasuke sneezed.

He began to brood "I feel as if a rivalry between the Uchiha and the Hyuga clan has arisen once more" he darkly muttered.

He wasn't gay, but he couldn't help but suddenly feel jealous of a certain indigo-hair heiress who without a doubt took his place as Naruto's best friend and favourite Dojutsu using friend.

* * *

 **Finally another chapter!**

 **Sorry this one is a bit longer than the last one, but I won't make any promises about consistent lengths because I believe in making my chapters have all relevant details rather than a skipping out on a few things just to keep consistent chapter lengths.**

 **So, yeah as you can see Naruto is definitely progressing fast, but you can understand, his clan was feared for it Fuinjutsu prowess to the point the Land of Eddy was destroyed. Though Uzumaki members are known for their natural tendency towards Fuinjutsu leads people to believe that it is a bloodline trait, we I agree upon, since we have seen Naruto capable of skillfully utilizing the full functions of his Tetragram seal without much thought and it was even hinted that he made some modifications to it to allow a better mental connection between him and the other tailed beast.**

 **Also the Uzumaki's were known for their Kenjutsu (or Sword techniques), so it's my fanfiction so I gave him swords. The reason why I gave him dual swords however, was really based on how I saw him handle the Truth-seeker orb rods in Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. He is actually pretty damn good with swords so I wanted to develop those skills in him.**

 **For his development with Hinata, yes, I'm not going to agree that it happened kind of fast because in some animated installments of the series and some images I have seen, it was obvious that Naruto actually had some feelings for Hinata even before they graduated to genin. So as more chapters come along, I will reveal that Naruto does remember Hinata's confession, but never responded, I won't give the full reason, but it does have something to due with her happiness and the fear the Hyuga clan planted in him.**

 **Also, as I mentioned somewhere, the Tenseigan will make as appearance, not sure when, but definitely on a mission that Naruto will request himself and since Sasuke isn't in the Village, he will take Hinata since to him, she has the greatest pair of eyes for the job. Which will inevitably cause Hinata to awaken Hamura's chakra, or Six Planes Techniques as I have heard people call it.**

 **I'm didn't make Sakura an annoying person despite what she has done because she has become an scary older sister figure to Naruto who he can ask for advice and confide in. I'm also hoping to make her a key factor in getting Naruto to realise what he feels for Hinata is love, though I'll have Naruto say he already knew he was but decided against it believing he'd just bring Hinata more pain due to all the misfortunes that have happened to her when he was around.**

 **Well, until then.**

 **Seeya**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I'm here with another chapter, I'm glad that people are actually reading this fanfiction of mine even if it's not that good. I was surprised that I actually got reviews and I'm happy that people are being honest with their thoughts on the story. So far people say it is good, except that they don't really like the NaruHina pairing. Hey, I understand some people don't like the cannon pairing, but I do since I have researched and 'looked underneath the underneath' in their bond and I was completely blown away by how deep Naruto's feelings were for Hinata.**

 **Some people I'm guessing ship NaruHina, but I'm probably not doing it justice with how much I stuff into these chapters. Anyway, with that said please read and enjoy (or not) then give me an honest review.**

 **I also have the poll open in my profile now, so please check it out!**

 **Notice: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and every other franchise using its name. It's owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **Warning: For hardcore Naruto fans and theorists, this chapter will be using my theory on how Ninshu works, what chakra is and finally what he can now do with his Dual Nodachi.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Old times, New lessons**

 _February 5_ _th_ _, a month after the weapons purchase…_

During mid-day in Konoha, we find our world-renowned knuckle-headed ninja walking towards the Academy for his daily Jounin lesson with Iruka-sensei with a stride in his step. Despite Naruto's initial reluctance to studying, he found that the things he has missed out on and the additional subjects about more advanced Shinobi topics were quite intriguing such as: the fundamentals of chakra explained how no matter what form, or what purpose chakra is used for, to its most basic platform it is still the same type of energy that is always connected to everything else chakra wise.

This law about chakra being a universal medium reminded him of Ninshu: The Ninja creed. How chakra was meant to connect and understand one another leading to peace, but was later weaponized into Ninjutsu. But from the memories Naruto has gained from his past ancestor and the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo himself gifted upon him, he couldn't help but frown at just how much more versatile and lethal Ninshu was than its modern counterpart.

He saw in his memories that often, Indra and Ashura, especially Ashura could manipulate chakra inside and outside of their bodies by simply willing it to do what they imagined as if it was second nature. Now Indra, being the genius who created hand-signs of course could be called the father, or progenitor of the base for modern Ninjutsu. Whereas Ashura, the good-for-nothing to a God-like entity inherited his father's will and ambition for peace that he mostly stuck to intended purpose of chakra with his older brother's influence mixed in; of course, Ashura used hand-signs but he found it easier just to manipulate the chakra within him or the environment to pull off jutsu through willpower and imagination much like Naruto himself.

His thoughts lead Naruto to one thing; could it be possible for the reverse to happen: the relearning of Ninshu. He remembered a conversation he had with Kurama two weeks ago during training.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Naruto was in the middle of his daily training schedule. After he somehow gotten use to his constantly changing Taijutsu patterns, he began mixing in moves he managed to snag off Lee during one of their bouts and a few Taijutsu patterns he found from his Jounin studies recently to change things up._

 _He also gotten the hang of using his Dual Nodachi he purchased from Tenten a week ago. He found that they were an amazing substitute for his dormant Truth-seeking Orbs that he moulded into rods during his fight against Madara. He could now enhance the blades with his golden chakra; a side effect from the perfect mixing of his, Kurama's and the Six Paths Senjutsu Chakra he achieved from the perfect balancing of all the Tailed Beast Chakra along with the Sage's Yang power. What his chakra did to the blades aside from its golden shroud made the blades stronger, sharper, more durable (nigh unbreakable) and overall enhancing all of the weapons qualities bringing it on par with the Truth-seeking Orbs he once used. It even made it lighter and he could use it with more skill than the average user to the point he could deal 20 to 30 slashes in about one second. Although he was no way near as skilled as Sasuke, Naruto's unique way of fighting could still give him some trouble if they fought with swords now._

 _Suddenly he was pulled into his mindscape._

 _ **[In Naruto's mindscape]**_

 _A loud and regal voice filed the corridors_

" _Yo Kit, you've come along nicely so far!" Kurama complimented, which was rare so Naruto beamed._

" _You bet I am! Just wait til I finish the new seal I'm working on to let you come outside my body without killing me so we can spar, tebayo!" Naruto excitedly said._

 _Kurama grinned in anticipation "Yes, I'm looking forward to that! To believe the little runt-sized brat grew up to be a surprising smart yet immature man in all but mind!" he teased back._

 _Naruto despite being much calmer than he was back then, he still had a short-temper "Oi! Screw you Kurama, I am a grown-ass man mentally too! I'm pretty good at seals now which is said to the hardest thing for a ninja to learn! How about that, tebayo!" Making Kurama laugh in amusement at how easy it was to make fun of him._

 _Once Kurama stopped laughing and Naruto cooled off, Kurama's presence suddenly became heavy telling Naruto that whatever the fox had on his mind was important._

 _Kurama began "Naruto, since we are training you to become the next 'Sage', I believe it would also be a good idea to revive Ninshu" Naruto was at a loss for words, he knew that the Sage and Ashura wanted peace through chakra connection but he wondered what the benefit would be if he did learn it._

" _I know what you're thinking Kit, but bear with me and this will make sense." Naruto dropped his idiotic mask and paid close attention at what the fox was going to mention next._

 _Kurama continued "Ninshu was meant to create peace by understanding one another through a connection via chakra. What this basically meant is that your chakra and everybody else's is connected." Naruto nodded in understanding "You already know that Ninshu will allow you to use chakra for jutsu without hand-signs, which is what you normally find easy anyway." Gaining another nod from Naruto "What completely learning Ninshu will do for you is, allow you to expand your sensory abilities by syncing your chakra with everyone else's to the point you will be able to read their thoughts and feelings letting you know the best course of action to satisfy both parties; a handy ability to have once you become Hokage."_

 _Naruto had stars in his eyes "Cool! So, it's like your Negative Emotions Sensing, but Ninshu lets me see the positive side of it right!?"_

 _Kurama confirmed "That's basically what Ninshu will let you do for our desires. That's why I want you to master Ninshu, it shouldn't be too hard since you've done sage training which is a requirement to truly master it. There are some people who are deceptive to the point that they can smoothly lie without lying avoiding my Negative Emotions Sense if you know what I mean" Naruto nodded in agreement since he has had people who have somehow bypassed that ability and knowing that Ninshu will erase that loophole would come in handy._

" _Well then, how you think I sure start off Kurama?" Naruto inquired_

 _Kurama advised him "Well it's basically your Sage mode training, but instead of gathering Natural Energy to become one with nature. You are spreading your chakra's reach to connect with others, in other words making you one with the people. Therefore, do the reverse without leaking your chakra, you just want to connect with their chakra not let them know where you are"_

 _Naruto took a determined look and left his mindscape to use the last 30 minutes uses to meditate instead to train in connect his chakra with others._

 _ **[Outside his mindscape]**_

Naruto began to meditate and tried to let his chakra touch others, but instead he ended up making a chakra flare alerting anything and anyone within the vicinity to his presence. Luckily, he shot out so much chakra, nothing could pinpoint his location within the 300-kilometre radius, it wouldn't do to have his fans bother him.

In the back of his mind, he heard Kurama sigh loudly saying that this will take a while.

 _ **Flashback end**_

It indeed took quite some time to get used to learn the basics of Ninshu but he managed to do it. The problem was that he was trying to connect his chakra to others, knowing that chakra from others has different signals, frequencies and essences that people unconsciously have a natural firewall against the connection, like an enemy trying to storm a castle's wall only to be pushed back by its defenses.

The trick was actually quite simply in nature: chakra no matter the differences was still chakra down to its purest; one and the same. All Naruto had to do was pre-program his chakra to connect with others, then filter out his essence and what made it 'his' chakra before letting it spread out to connect to other people's chakra. Since the chakra is 'pure chakra', it is readily accepted by other people's chakra and since it was originally from Naruto it made the connection allowing him to hear their thoughts and feelings. He finally learnt Ninshu!

Although Naruto was proud of this achievement after a month of practice. He was still limited to having to meditate to connect with many people's chakras at once. He could only subconsciously do it if he was doing a one-on-one conversation with someone, but it still took a bit of willpower to start the Ninshu process as Naruto calls it.

Once he arrived at the Academy, he walks into the class expecting to see a bunch of books and scrolls with Iruka-sensei. But instead he found only him.

Naruto greeted Iruka "Yo Iruka-sensei, what's going on today? Why are there no books" he asked.

Iruka warmly greeted back before saying "Well, I have something important to do today, so you have a day off today" Iruka happily told him. Though most of Naruto was excited not to have to study today, a small bit of him was looking forward to class as things got more interesting as he progressed.

Wanting to know what Iruka was up to, Naruto focused a bit on filtering his chakra after commanding it to connect to Iruka's. What he found out put a huge shit-eating grin on Naruto's face; half of it had to do was that Iruka-sensei confirmed that Naruto has gone through most of the Jounin material at a phenomenal rate to the point that Iruka needed more time to prepare more topics for him he said in his mind, at the rate Naruto was going, he finish his three-year course in one, but that wasn't what gave Naruto that face.

"So…. Iruka-sensei," Naruto started off slyly "You got a yourself a date with Anko-sensei aayyyy!" he teased.

Iruka went red from embarrassment and shock "What! How the hell did you know!? Are you spying on me Naruto!?" Iruka questioned whilst using his Big-headed jutsu.

Naruto gave a small chuckle clearly proud of himself that Ninshu works. "No, why would I do that Iruka-sensei. No, I have just been training myself in Ninshu" Iruka asked "Ninshu?" in a questioning voice, not because he didn't know what it was but rather what does it have anything to do with how he knew.

Naruto then explained to him what Ninshu was meant to be used for and how it'll let read people's thoughts and feelings, a handy ability for important political negotiations once he starts attending meetings. Iruka found himself quite impressed.

"Wow, Naruto, you have come such a long way from that little troublemaker I used to catch all the time" Iruka reminisced.

Naruto joined in too talking about his old pranks with Iruka earning a few laughs here and there. Maybe a few scolding glares from Iruka when Naruto mentioned how he had some ideas he wanted to try out next.

Eventually Iruka rushed out so he could make it on time for his date with Anko. Naruto still using Ninshu knew that he would be broke at the end of it since he had saved up to take Anko out to an All-you-can-eat dango restaurant.

Shortly after Naruto took his leave.

 **Somewhere near the park**

With so much time on his hands, Naruto decided to travel towards an old park he used to frequent when he was a kid and to his surprise, he found Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji hanging around.

The old class skipping squad was back together!

Naruto became excited at the thought of maybe finally having some 'guy time' to fool around a bit that he loudly made his presence known.

"Yo! Kiba! Shikamaru! Chouji! How have y'all been!?" as full of life his voice could possibly be filled with.

Kiba replied happily "Hey Naruto!", Shikamaru smiled and mutter "Troublesome" and Chouji said "Hey 'munch' we've been 'munch' good".

After the rather loud greeting, they started talking about whatever they could come up with, such as how their lives were now and any missions the guys have been taking which somehow lead up to them joking around about how nice it was to be back being monkeys in the trees courtesy of Kiba and Naruto talking about tree huggers. The group laughed loudly except Shikamaru who gave a small snicker.

The said genius then out of nowhere came up with "Man, this reminds me of the times when we were back in the Academy" he said absent-mindedly.

Kiba went next "Yeah, I know what you mean, how we all use to skip class and sometimes help Naruto with his pranks or what not" he reminisced.

Chouji kept munching on his chips, but had a faraway look in his eyes obviously remembering the Academy days.

Naruto in one of his rare wise moments spoke up "Ah… Those were good times indeed. To think we use to be those children that we now protect… Remember that time you guys helped me with that prank on one of the Akimichi clan's main competitors in the Korean BBQ business."

 _ **Flashback Start**_

 _Ten years-old versions of the group_

 _We find a young and upbeat Naruto bouncing around along with an equally excited Kiba though not as bouncy, a tired-looking Shikamaru and Chouji munching on a huge bag of chips. All of them were hiding in a surprising clean dumpster in the back of a Korean BBQ restaurant_ snickering about what they were going to do.

Naruto told them "Alright guys, you know what to do" he said and they all nodded before jumping out of the dumpster to initiate his prank.

Naruto snuck into the staff's kitchen undetected, taking a few bites out of what they had pre-made along the way. He his 'special ingredient' to the marinade, meat and other edibles if they could be covered up. He then replaced the ones that couldn't be tampered with rubber versions that looked real. Once he was done, he escaped the restaurant without anyone noticing that he was there.

Kiba could be seen adding extra chilli sauce to all the marinades and sauces. Following Shikamaru's advice and Chouji's knowledge about food, he added a bit of coconut flavouring to mask the heat.

Chouji and Shikamaru just waltzed in the restaurant asking for a table for two and ordered everything on the menu. Then when they saw Kiba and Naruto outside on a rooftop, they knew the magic was gonna start.

They people who starting chowing down on their food started complaining about the meat being too chewy like rubber, people getting up with the need to go to the bathroom after having one piece of meat, courtesy of the chilli Kiba added and the laxative Naruto added. People then started complaining about how this restaurant is a fraud for selling fake food for premium prices. At this point, Shikamaru and Chouji's part was now on.

Chouji suddenly had a 'stomach ache' with a loud groan of pain, Shikamaru quickly came to his aid whilst demanding to see the manager. When the manager came, Shikamaru told him that his friend was having a lethal reaction due to the poor food quality of the restaurant giving him 'food poisoning', with that the manager was panicking about how this happened since he made sure everything was perfect. Shikamaru said that if he wanted to really help, then they want the amount they paid for their meal to cover the hospital expenses (the manager was in such a panic that he didn't realise these kids didn't even pay yet) which of course included interest. Once that was done, Shikamaru was rolling a 'sick' Chouji out of the establishment.

The prank was a success and we find the group celebrating at Chouji's family's Korean BBQ establishment (the only other place that let Naruto in due to Chouza and the rest of the clan knowing the boy's father). They had a good feast with Naruto and Chouji coming to a draw, Kiba had long ago 'died' halfway and Shikamaru was asleep with a satisfied smile on his face. Not only did they have a lot to spend for the week, the prank indirectly helped the Akimichi clan's BBQ establishment's business boom due to the bad review the pranked restaurant had ever since. The best part was no one knew who did, except for a fuming Iruka-sensei who dragged the boys in front of class scolding them for skipping class some reason; okay, maybe he didn't know.

 _ **Flashback end**_

Back to their 17-year-old counterparts

The group laughed out loud at that memory. It has been so long since the old troublemakers had laughed to their hearts content like that.

Naruto continued once they all stopped laughing "… it's those times that want the future generation to experience, heck, maybe even better. That's why we are all here now, to ensure they get to live the lives we never were able to." He spoke in a sagely manner.

Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji who stopped eating his chips all nodded slowly letting Naruto's words sink in. They knew what he meant, everyone wants to let the new generation live happier lives than they led, never experience the hardships they endured and most of all appreciate life more than anything.

As the mood became more towards the serious side of the spectrum. Naruto as well as the others bid their farewells to each other.

That conversation ran deep into their hearts since they all shared one thing in common: they now have something more important to fight for and that is the future generations' prosperity.

 **With Naruto 20 minutes later**

As Naruto walked back into the centre of town, he began to remember other times like his first mission to the Land of Waves where he found his strength from Haku, the Chunin Exams when he saw Hinata battle to her very limit against Neji and the most beautiful girl Naruto saw on the waterfall that one night; the thought of Neji came with grief since Naruto firmly believed that Neji would change the Hyuga clan, however, with him gone that promise Naruto made to him during the Chunin Exams rang clear in his head: when he became Hokage he will change the Hyuga clan via an alternative for the Caged Bird Seal.

The solution looked simple at a glance; remove the seal and that's that. But Naruto wasn't that shallow despite what he would say to maintain that image, he knew that the Hyuga clan wouldn't just get rid of the seal as it does protect their precious Byakugan, so what they needed was a seal that does the same thing just much better. He knows that only a Hyuga of the main bloodline can activate the seal, however, Naruto looking at the sealing stash he received from his mother's clan surprised him; his family made the dreaded Caged Bird Seal! Not only that, but it was incomplete as it could easily be modified by any run-of-the-mill Fuinjutsu practitioner claiming to be a Sealing Master when really, their biggest accomplishment was just the modification of an existing seal that happens to be 'improved' like an explosive tag with a bigger blast radius. It's not that hard to pump more chakra into the sealing matrix or, adding a chakra condenser function to the seal to get more out of the same amount of chakra.

Apparently, the infamous Caged Bird Seal was just meant to protect a clan's bloodline by other means rather than just destruction upon death. The notes from Senju, formerly Uzumaki Mito intended to design the seal to not allow anything about the bloodline to be taken, like for dojutsu users, if the eyes are in danger it'll make a barrier around it, if that's broken through and the eyes are taken, then the seal will make the eyes useless no matter what the thief does to activate it. For every other bloodline, any blood or other samples of your DNA that is taken outside of your body is automatically made sterile and obsolete meaning nothing is obtained no matter how large the blood sample. Also, for breeding purposes, any unintentional or forced means to reproduce the bloodline will cause the seal to render the bearer's reproductive functions locked meaning what Kumo tried to do with his mother, Kushina and Hinata is not an option. To top it off, the seal is unbreakable and impossible to tamper with once completed and placed unless you have sufficient skills which is around Minato's level, this is for several reasons:

The sealing matrix and composition would rearrange itself every five minutes and be unpredictable (it may look like an explosive sealing matrix or a rare barrier seal that doesn't work) whilst scrambling the real formula by spreading it with the decoy seals and the bearer's own chakra. Also, it only obeys the bearer's chakra and will meaning it cannot control anyone and Naruto was already looking to add a feature that nullifies any malicious sealing attempts at all. With the progress Fuinjutsu he has made in secret; the projects he won't tell anyone about, he has secretly worked on the Caged Bird Seal alternative and so far, he can confidently say he had outdone himself because his seal he calls "The Freedom Cry Seal" did just what Mito's intention was, but Naruto was still adamant on adding that extra function to nullify any sealing attempts on the wearer. The next problem was going to be the Clan elders who don't want to give up their power and traditions. He wasn't sure how to give it to them, he sure as hell couldn't just go in one day and request a meeting to offer it as a sign of a good friendship and say it'd look cool when they do that 'The Hyuga Clan is the Strongest in the Leaf' pose with the palms facing out with the 'Unity' kanji glowing on their palms. He needed to somehow get them to agree to having the whole clan wear it, but that came later.

Thinking back on Neji, he decided to go pay him a visit but first he needed some flowers for him and Hinata; he gets some for her every now and then since his death affected her the most. So, he headed to the one place he does know where to get them.

 **Mid-afternoon, Yamanaka Flowers**

Business at the Yamanaka's has been at an all-time high for the last couple of months, though it has been slowly declining due to the loved ones' people have lost to the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Ino when the store was empty, sighed sadly as she thought about her late father, Yamanaka Inoichi, oh what things her overbearing father would have to say and how proud he would have been of the fine Kunoichi she became. Years of wanting her father off her back, now she wishes he was here telling her off. It was even worse for her mother, who often tended to the flower who always used to find red roses planted by her father to tell her that his heart was always only belong to her and now that he was gone she would silently cry to herself.

A jingle knocked her out of her thoughts reminding her that she was still working. She warmly welcomed the customer but was shocked to see who it was.

"Hey! Naruto, what made you come here out of all places!?" Ino loudly questioned, Naruto sweat dropped 'All that fangirling must have strengthened her vocal chords' he thought.

Naruto replied with his usual grin "Oh, just needed a bouquet and a few lavender lilies" he answered. Ino's eyes shined with mischief "Oh, who's the lucky lady?" she asked slyly.

"Noone, it's for Neji" he waved her off, Ino piped down suddenly feeling a little guilty knowing just how big an impact Neji made in Naruto's life.

"Oh, my bad. I didn't mean to be…" Ino tried to apologise.

"It's fine really! I can see how it would be like that" Naruto reaasured Ino. Naruto, however, was still purifying some of his chakra and letting it connect to Ino's allowing him to read her thoughts and feelings, which made him do something unexpected.

"Oh, can you make another bouquet, one for your dad since you probably don't have time to visit him" Naruto offered catching Ino off-guard with how accurate his guess was.

"Really? You'd do that for me? Wow Naruto, you really are a good friend!" Ino gratefully thanked him. Naruto modestly replied that it was the least he could do for a friend and he wanted to thank her dad for his help back when he was a kid referring to his tough childhood, to which Ino nodded.

After getting the two bouquets, Naruto stopped her "Oh, can you make the lavender lilies separate from the bouquets they're for another friend of mine" surprising Ino again "Really? Who's getting these?" she asked.

Naruto replied "Hinata" Ino hid a smile "She's more effected by Neji's death than anyone else, so I thought getting her these flowers which reminded me of her quiet resolve to make her feel better and remember just how strong she is" Naruto reasoned, Ino had to stop herself from 'Awing' at the unintentional romantic gesture.

"That's sweet Naruto, I'm sure coming from you she'd be ecstatic!" Ino assured whilst hinting at Hinata's feelings. Naruto thanked her before leaving seemingly not getting the hint.

When he left, also said "I left a surprise for your mother" leaving Ino confused. Ino's mother walked in greeting Ino before tending to the flowers in the shop and gasped in happiest shedding tears of joy. Ino being a curious gossip went to check what made her mother so happy and found a red rose in the exact places her dad would leave them for her mother. Suddenly, Naruto's words clicked, he did this for her mother to let her know no matter what, her father would always love them. How he did it she would never know. Nobody noticed the seals that were put in place that allowed the red roses to appear in certain places at specified times of the day; when Ino's mother comes in the store to care for the flowers.

 **The Leaf Cemetery**

Back with Naruto, we can see he had just arrived at in the area with a slight smile on his face at what he did for Ino and her mother. He quickly went to Inoichi's memorial stone to drop off his bouquet for Ino's family whilst thanking Inoichi for helping him when he went through trauma when he first got beaten by a mob.

Then Naruto slowly made his way to Neji's gravestone he shared with his father, Hyuga Hizashi. Naruto placed down the bouquet he had beside the white and lavender flowers place on it already, telling him that Hinata already made a stop here. Naruto then began recounting his day to the gravestone and what he has been training in so far.

Then came his deepest thoughts.

"Hey Neji, I finally have it down, a little bit soon though but nevertheless I can fulfil my promise I made to you back during our first fight together" Naruto said.

"I wonder what face you'd have right now if you were still here. Probably an impassive look you usually have, as if you were constipated 24/7" Naruto mused. However, a little white apparition appeared looking not too pleased.

Naruto then continued "I have the new seal ready to go anytime, but since I'm technically still a grunt and I'm of the Uzumaki clan who made the seal, the Hyuga clan probably won't even give me an audience to voice my solution. I don't know how to do it soon, but when I become Hokage, then I could probably request for a meeting. But you wouldn't believe that I, the dead-last of my year made the solution to ending the feud between your Clan's houses! You definitely be turning your robes brown if you were here!" Naruto joked. Until he heard a familiar stoic voice.

"Oh, really now! Whose clothes are going to turn brown!?" the white transparent figure loudly questioned. Naruto turned around and almost did what he joked about earlier at what or rather who he saw.

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed, luckily no one was around at the time which was odd "N-N-N-NEJI! What are you doing here!? I thought t-t-that you were…!" But he was cut by the now reveal ghost-Neji's hand.

"Yes, Naruto, now before you ask I am dead, I'm just a spirit or in other words a ghost of…" But was interrupted by Naruto who tried to hug him but fell through him instead. Ghost-Neji shook his head in amusement "You still are and always will be an idiot" he said playfully. Naruto paid no mind to the comment with tears of joy in his eyes "Neji, I can't believe it! I can talk to you now! Say you live in the afterlife right!? What is it like? Did you meet cool old people who haven't aged? If that's so how's Ero… I mean Jiraiya-sensei!? And also…" but Ghost-Neji stopped him "TOO MANY QUESTIONS!" he yelled.

"But yes, the afterlife is quite stunning in short. I have spoken to legends who have passed, including the Sage of Six Paths and his son, Ashura which I am pleasantly surprised to see you have awakened his power. Master Jiraiya is doing well and is proud of you" Ghost-Neji told Naruto. At the mention of Jiraiya being proud of him he was brought to tears knowing that Jiraiya was in fact still watching over him.

Quickly wiping away his tears Naruto was going to tell him about how he can now fulfil his promise he made to him but was yet again halted in his tracks. Ghost-Neji confirmed to him

"I have already heard you tell me about the seal's completed status and your predicament with my clan. I'm honestly blown away that you've thought about that hurdle" Ghost-Neji said.

"Yeah, about that what do you think I can do about the Elders? I know now that they never hated me for the fox, but rather of my bloodline that allows me to have a natural and unrivalled understanding of Fuinjutsu if I spend enough time on it, which will soon lead to the riddance of the Caged bird seal." Naruto told him.

Ghost-Neji thought for a moment before replying "Contrary to what you may believe Naruto, your actions and heroics…" Naruto grunted at that last word since he couldn't save Ghost-Neji, he continued "… as I was saying… you reputation far exceeds that of the Hyuga clan meaning it'd be of the highest honour to have you in their home, so making a request for a meeting shouldn't be nerve-wracking but rather a breeze for you" Naruto beamed at how his fame can come in handy sometimes, other than half-priced items he still pays full price for unless Gama-chan is skinny or the seal he placed in his account tells him he doesn't have much left.

Ghost-Neji then told him "But what will be difficult is convincing the Main house elders to give up their ways as you have said. They want to hang on to power and traditions believing that makes the Hyuga strong when it obviously has done the opposite" Naruto nodded

"What I can suggest, may be a little extensive, but you could offer yourself as well" Ghost-Neji said with a devilish smile. However, Naruto tilted his head in confusion but still had that smile on his face.

Ghost-Neji continued "What I'm saying is you could if they don't want accept the seal, you could ask for my cousin's hand in marriage in return for accepting the seal" he proposed.

Naruto however, started pouting "Hmmm, that could work, but I don't think I can live the rest of my life with a random cousin of yours. I mean I know you respect that much but still…" Ghost-Neji then blew up in his face "You idiot! I'm talking about Hinata-sama!"

At the mention of her name and piecing together the topic of marriage. Naruto's face took on an atomic blush that would put anything Hinata had to shame. Naruto's incoherent sputtering made Ghost-Neji chuckle; a rare thing for the stoic former Hyuga genius to do.

Naruto then recovered "M-M-Marry Hinata!? B-But wouldn't that…" he tried to form a sentence.

Ghost-Neji took over the conversation "From your reaction, I can guess you do think of my cousin that way" Ghost Neji smiled even wider at the fact Naruto became even more crimson instead of denying it answering Ghost-Neji's question.

Naruto's face then darkened "But I don't think I should do that" he said, if he wasn't so absorbed in his thoughts, he would have heard a gasp coming from the nearby trees, something Ghost-Neji took notice of.

"Why is that Naruto" Ghost-Neji suddenly back to his serious demeanour "Why can't you be with my cousin? Do you not find her attractive enough? Do you have any dislikes about her that you want to bring up? Is she not good enough…" but Ghost-Neji was cut off by an enraged Naruto.

"No! That's not it" He defended.

Neji asked "Then what's holding you back? Why haven't you brought up her confession, seeing as she is now your best friend as I have seen"

Naruto then cracked under the pressure and stated spilling his heart out.

"The reason why I haven't responded to her confession is because I feel like I don't deserve someone as good as her" shocking Ghost-Neji and the unknown eavesdropper with his response. Ghost-Neji wanted to question him further but Naruto already began answering the unspoken question.

"She has done so much for me whereas I have done nothing at all for her. Not only that, when I first met her and told everyone including her I first thought of her as weird, I was lying! I just said that to cover up that was actually how she made me feel!" he shocked Ghost-Neji even more at learning that was a lie waited in anticipation as well the eavesdropper in the trees.

Naruto then calmed down a bit in a more heartfelt tone "When I first met Hinata, when I first laid eyes on Hinata I actually thought she was the most beautiful person there was in the world. That has changed with time and the more I learnt about her, her sweet and caring personality began to surface making her in my opinion a real-life angel who brought me joy with her radiance" impressing Ghost-Neji with his poetry and surprising him and the eavesdropper with his thoughts about Hinata.

Naruto continued "She was just so great, to the point that she was just too good to be true that the words beautiful would be an insult to her since she's more than that. She strong, kind, caring and everything the world could imagine in an angel. I always thought that there was no way someone like that could ever think of me that way. So, imagine how happy I was to learn that she loved me back the whole time and angry I was at the thought that I lost her right after."

Naruto took a deep breath.

"I wanted to start dating her, getting to know her personally and more. But when I went to the Hyuga Clan compound after the battle finished, the guards wouldn't even let me thank her for saving me" Naruto told them, at the mention of this Ghost-Neji was furious that Naruto, the man he respected most wasn't even allowed to see Hinata and the person hiding in the trees wasn't too happy either.

"One of them mentioned, how whenever I even get into her life, bad things seem to happen to her like her near-death experience during the Chunin Exams and the battle against Pain. It made me feel like that I just brought sadness to her life and I really do care for her more than me, so I thought that if I really do love her then I want her to be happy." Naruto admitted making Ghost-Neji and the eavesdropper smile as they knew he wasn't lying.

"But I heard it was her dream to be married to me, but I also know that it's her dream to abolish the Caged Bird Seal and reunite the Hyuga clan making them a family once more. One of which I can fulfil." He said confusing Ghost-Neji and the person hiding.

"The seal was the easy one, that can be done anytime now if I play my cards right. But Hinata is a being from a realm whose standards surpass our world's best. She deserves someone who can make her happy, someone worthy and is willing to fulfil every promise to her even if they are unwanted, but unfortunately that guy doesn't exist" Naruto stated with a grim tone. Ghost-Neji and the eavesdropper were shocked that Naruto thought of Hinata that highly.

What came next reminded them of who Ghost-Neji was talking to.

Naruto stated with a firm resolve "That's why I vow to become that man who is able to make her happy, encourage her to achieve her dreams and willing to do anything for her even if she doesn't end up with me. Why? I love her too much to ever weigh her down with me."

Ghost-Neji smiled a true smile before replying "If that's what you really think, then you are in my eyes, in fact, the whole world, you are already the only man who can be with Hinata-sama" completely throwing Naruto off.

"If you simply just said you are the only one for her, that would have been too easy to say. It's even harder to admit that you believe yourself to not be worthy or capable of ensuring the one you love lives the rest of their life being as happy is one can possibly be. Even then, you still find that you can be a better man for her if there is no other. So, I see that your love for Hinata-sama is one that can last beyond death." Ghost-Neji said with a satisfied smirk. Naruto however, stood wide-eyed.

Ghost-Neji began to fade "I guess what I have to say is you have my blessings and I look forward to when you finally become the man you believe is fit to be with Hinata-sama" he told Naruto before he disappeared leaving Naruto who was smiling to himself as someone saw him worthy of being there for Hinata every step of the way. With that he decided to head back home.

 **After Naruto left the Cemetery**

The figure who was hiding behind the came out in the open, with teary eyes that they were trying to hold in and this figure who was listening was Hinata who was saw Naruto coming to the cemetery earlier and decided to hide as she still had some shy tendencies around him.

Listening to how Naruto really felt about her was the greatest surprise to her. Learning that he did have feelings for her so far back in the Academy days as Sakura theorised and she was right.

Hinata was also happy that Naruto thought of to be so amazing to the point he felt like he needed to be a better man for her. But hearing him vow to himself to become that man already made him the man that she would be happy with for the rest of her life.

But, she could wait a bit longer for Naruto. It was something he must do for himself, he has proven countless times that he was the only man who could ever truly make her happy. But never has she thought that Naruto needed to prove to himself that he was.

Knowing that, Hinata vowed she would wait for the time Naruto became the man he believed could make her happy.

* * *

 **Omake: Shrunken, but not beaten!**

Naruto was hanging out with Sai one day, they were heading towards the public bathhouse for Naruto to give Sai some advice on what he could do to start getting Ino to see how much he liked her.

At least that was the plan... Oh boy here we go!

As the two young men settled into the hot water, Sai decided to have some fun and insult Naruto on his 'package'. It wasn't that Naruto was small, in fact he was actually many sizes larger than others to the point even the most adventurous of women would wish he was smaller, possibly due to his Uzumaki linage extending the period of his growth spurts and whatnot. For you see Danzo had informed Sai about everything he knew about the Uzumaki Clan, what was considered above average for them was considered small for them and this was apparently genetically pre-programmed in their blood. Apparently, that rumor was true as Naruto's outburst have proven so.

Sai teased "So, your the hero of the world and you haven't gotten yourself a girlfriend. Probably because you are Dickless!"

This had the desired affect on Naruto, he was furious saying he wasn't Dickless, he has one and it's decently sized as well.

Sai ended up continuing this for a while until Naruto out of nowhere used a Jutsu that made himself shrink. Sai was surprised and confused but didn't show it as he watch on.

Naruto them challenged him in a now high-pitched voice "Alright Sai, let's compare!" Sai was nervous as he actually never let anyone see his 'package', so he tried to talk his way out.

"There's no need to compare since it's obvious that you don't have a dick." He calmly said.

Naruto however kept pestering him "Oh come on, if you are so proud of yours, then you'll put me to shame, dattebayo!" he exclaimed loud enough for the girls to start paying attention, the ones who already were, being Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Temari and Hinata with a little blush on her cheeks due to the nature of the topic the two men were talking about. They heard Sai say something next.

 **Boys side**

Sai said back in his usual tone, although he was sweating this time "Um... No I don't want to show it to you" he replied seemly calm but was panicking inwardly as he ran out of snappy responses.

Naruto in his mini size saw this and decided to drop the ultimatum "What!? Even in this size, are you scared its bigger than yours!?" Which had some of the girls laughing and saying 'oohhh' at the insult.

Sai finally gave in and stood up let the towel drop sucking in his pride. What Naruto saw made him sweat drop, all that teasing and this is what Sai had to hide.

Naruto returned to his normal size and bluntly said without realizing the girls were listening intently to know how 'big' Sai was (mostly Ino).

Naruto began "Really!?"Sai nodded with his fake smile somehow emitting pride in himself but came crashing down when Naruto showed his 'package'.

Naruto continued 'That's about five inches!" making Ino nosebleed and the rest blush at his size. But what came next blew them away, especially Hinata who was going to have some new fantasies.

"That's less than a third of make own size! And I'm talking in both length and thickness here, tebayo!" he shouted in triumph.

 **Girls side**

"Oh my god, Naruto hides that thing!?" and comments like that were thrown around between the girls.

Except Hinata who sink into the water a bit more sighing happily. Daydreaming about Naruto letting her have 'it'. But she still couldn't help but worry.

'I always wanted him to be big, but I never thought that I'd wish he was smaller, especially with his stamina' she thought scared about doing 'it' with Naruto.

This wasn't lost on the girls who looked at Hinata worryingly with the same thought.

'I hope Naruto goes easy on Hinata." they hoped.

* * *

 **HAHAHA! Yeah an OMAKE! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Yes, I know that Naruto's true thoughts and feelings were revealed a bit too soon, but I wanted to add a logical reason for Hinata still being able to wait a bit longer for Naruto's answer to her confession. I wanted to delay this revelation myself, but since I added Neji's ghost in this chapter. I thought with his no nonsense attitude, he'd wouldn't beat around the bush and would just in true Neji-style, straight up ask Naruto why he hasn't done anything to answer her confession despite what she has done for him, so, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to put Naruto in a situation where he spills his heart's deepest feelings.**

 **When I did my own research into the practice of Ninshu. Many sources simply stated that it was used to connect people via chakra in order to understand one another. This lead me to give Naruto another task he must do in order to become the next Sage in Kurama's words. I even rationalized its importance to Naruto by adding in the fact that his Negative Emotions Sensing ability will only work so far since some people can just change their word up a bit to tell another story without lying. He will encounter stuff like this a lot when he start doing things like clan affairs and Hokage duties.**

 **I hope you liked my theory and explanation of Ninshu and its abilities.**

 **In the meantime, give me some honest reviews! Say my story is shit or good, I don't care, just shoot!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Here you goes everybody, another chapter.**

 **This one is more on the cheesy side towards the end, I wanted to keep the waterfall reenactment scene for later as well. But I figured kill two birds with one stone and have written in this chapter anyway.**

 **Thanks for those who have read my story, especially the reviewers as I do make make mistakes and it warms my heart to know that people want to see me improve. Also, about the NaruHina pair, yeah, it's just what I ship, no hate or hostilities. But it's mostly that I can't write another pairing as well.**

 **This chapter will finally reveal Naruto's progress in Fuinjutsu and the need to go to Uzushiogakure.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Deep down**

 _The night after the talk with Neji's ghost._

 **Naruto's POV**

After having my mask broken through by Ghost-Neji, I found myself feeling lighter, the kind of weight that weighs on your heart or at least in your chest was suddenly lifted.

I had so many hidden emotions that swirled in my heart for so long that even I was surprised by what I really had within me and yet here I was thinking I knew everything about myself. I always wondered why every time I asked out Sakura and said, "I love you" so easily, I kept asking myself why it felt forced and empty, better yet, why my thoughts kept going back to that girl (a very cute one in my opinion) I saved from three bullies back when I was five when I said those three words. Another question that appeared in the dark recesses of my heart was 'If I'd ever know what love is?'.

The only people he can ever say without a doubt, who he loved were Ero-sennin, his parents, Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee-chan and Old man Hokage, Hiruzen the Third Hokage.

But now that Ghost-Neji, brought out his true feelings, he now discovered what he felt for Hinata was much stronger than even what he felt for his parents and Godfather, Jiraiya. Which still confused him; he lacked love his whole life and that's what he wished to have. But never thought about the possibility of an even stronger positive emotion than love, if it ever existed. Regardless, that still didn't change the fact that he cared for her so much to the point that, even if she somehow ended up hating him, he'd still be supporting her to help her achieve her goals and dreams just the same for the sake of making her smile for real. His feelings for the lavender heiress were just that strong that it confused him.

To complicate things further, he would never tell anyone this, well maybe Jiraiya if he was still alive, but he has been dreaming that the beautiful girl he saw dancing on the waterfall was Hinata for the past few months. However, he laughed at the incredulous possibility of that ever happening, the sweet and innocent Hinata, doing a sexy nude dance in the water. But he couldn't help but compare that one time he saw her without a jacket in nothing but a skin-tight mesh shirt, which he swore was part of some fetish. Her form despite being more grown and curvaceous than even the girls he saw in those magazines for the time he made his 'Oiroke no jutsu' was just very similar that girl. But he decided to ponder on that at on a later date.

As he thought more about his true self, it eventually wound up making him think about his mother, Kushina's homeland, the Land of Eddy, Uzushio. Most of him wanted to reconnect with his past relatives to fill in the gap that was so far only filled by Sasuke, who was like a brother to him figuratively and in a past life, literally. Another reason was that he had gone through most of his parent's scrolls from the Uzumaki clan and Namikaze family notes already and he found at the end of his mother's letters that there was still more at the now destroyed Whirlpool country still awaiting a 'certain clan member'.

With all that thinking done, Naruto decided to fall asleep due to the fact finally got the new clone jutsu down, which he calls, 'The Flesh clone' since this clone jutsu unlike the Shadow clone jutsu which made a physical and identical clone by splitting his chakra evenly. The flesh clone required the usage of his Yang Release to pump more life into his clones, making them genuine copies of his body to the point that his clones remained after one of them decided to try the Clone Explosion, resulting in that said flesh clone to blow off its only arm. Even better, was that they transferred his physical training results due to the fact, that the flesh would convert back to a chakra form to go back to the user. The downsides, it took 10 times more chakra so the most he could make was 100 flesh clones, but he only needed 3 due since Naruto could only take so much punishment from training. Also, when the flesh clones dispel, they technically die, so no knowledge is passed onto the original, only the physical body results and finally, unlike the Shadow clone jutsu where it felt like a sudden splash of cold water over his brain, the feedback from the flesh clones felt like someone was melding a piece of metal onto him. To put it bluntly, it burnt like a bitch!

Despite that, Naruto was excited to see what results in his physical training he could achieve now after using his flesh clones for training the next day. With that he finally nodded off.

 **Early in the morning**

It was 4:55 am, Naruto did get plenty of sleep, often too much and he was content to keep it that way until someone knocked on his door.

Who the hell would see him at this time of the day!? He looked at his clock and scowled as he still had a good five minutes before he actually started his training routine, with Lee if he was lucky enough to meet him.

Annoyed, he begrudgingly made his way to the door and found an Anbu awaiting him. This quickly made Naruto sober up knowing that this was important since it meant Kakashi-sensei needed to see him.

"Hey there Miss Cat" lacking his usual cheery enthusiasm. If the purple-haired Anbu was surprised, she didn't show it.

She then told him "Uzumaki-san, Lord Sixth has requested your presence immediately." With a monotone voice only, a drone could pull off.

Naruto went through the motions of saying he'll be there soon as he was still in his pyjamas, no not the old frog wear he wore, but he now just sleep in boarding shorts and a black baggy T-shirt. If Kakashi-sensei, needed him immediately, then it must be urgent. He took a cold shower to wake him wake, brushed his teeth and wore his mission gear; the clothes he got from Tenten's store a few months back.

 **At the Hokage's office**

Kakashi, now Sixth Hokage, whilst seated on his 'throne', was seemly going over the Forbidden scroll and adding some new things, like making Sasuke's Chidori variants and Naruto's Rasen Shurikens forbidden jutsus. Little did his assistant Shizune know, that Kakashi already finished that, but to have some reading time, he cleverly transferred all the forbidden scroll's contents to a fake Icha Icha tatics book and made the once forbidden scroll, an Icha Icha book. So, he was giggling like Ino who found some new gossip.

Fortunately, or, unfortunately, Naruto arrived a bit too early for his taste, however, he examined Naruto now, he was no longer a loud-mouthed midget he took under his wing, but instead, was a well-grown man whose height could now easily rival the Raikages, at 192cm tall with a build that could have only been achieved from years of gruelling training, possibly due to Naruto for the past few months after his morning running, he summons himself to Mount Myoboku for its low oxygen levels and higher gravitational environment to push his stamina. The mission gear that Naruto now wore made him seem functional, yet regal, especially with the red cape with a white whirlpool swirl that Naruto sewed on himself, a black military jacket with an orange zipper, with burnt orange shinobi pants (baggy around the thigh, form-fitting around the calves) and jet black armoured sandals. Overall, Naruto looked like he could do both missions and formal occasions since he looked like a prince.

Kakashi, once he stopped his thoughts which only lasted a glance, he started to inform Naruto about a mission for both diplomatic reasons and for Naruto's sake.

He eye-smiled "Yo! Naruto, how have you been ah… nevermind, I've already seen how you are." He happily said whilst looking at the crystal ball, making Naruto chuckle.

"Oh, come on Kakashi-sensei, I can take care of myself, no need to worry, plus, I thought you used that to peep on women not watch me!? Naruto accused. Kakashi nervously laughed at how accurate his guess was.

Changing the topic, Kakashi spoke "Enough about that, Naruto, I called you here for a diplomatic mission to Iwa that will last around 6-8 months according to my estimations." He told Naruto. Naruto was excited at the prospect of getting a mission, but the word diplomatic confused him.

"A diplomatic mission, why me? Why not Shikamaru, or an experienced political figure like yourself or Grandma Tsunade?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi reasoned "Well, Naruto, Shikamaru is already on his way there with Temari for Sand delegations, since you're still using the Uzumaki clan name and you'll be continuing it…" Kakashi wriggled his eyebrows making Naruto groan "… I figured that this will be a good learning experience for you as you're the type who learns from doing things directly, also, with your presence and reputation, it'd definitely be seen as an honour to cement the relationship between Konoha and Iwa. So, your job there is to make a good impression, make a few friends with important political figures and make trade agreements between our villages. Plus, Tsunade is spreading medical services around the world, so she might be there." Kakashi reasoned. Naruto nodded but then piped up.

"Um… Kakashi-sensei, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to go, ya know, my dad and them…" Naruto mentioned, Kakashi saw his worry but waved it off "Don't worry Naruto, they now respect your father because of his assistance in the last war and they really admire your courage" making Naruto feel better.

"However, to avoid making you mess up, I'm asking you find someone who is free and has experience in these types of things to go with you" Kakashi informed, making Naruto excited as he wouldn't have to journey alone, though he could just summon Gamakichi, he is a little bit big for some company.

Kakashi then added, "Also, a while you are traveling to Iwa, I want you to make a stop at Uzushiogakure, the Whirlpool country, there has been a chakra disturbance there as of recent and we need you with your unrivalled sensory skills to investigate, so the person you take with you must be able to help you in this endeavour to exactly pinpoint what caused this is".

Naruto was shocked, his mother's and his clan's old home suddenly had a huge event happen. A chakra disturbance, now that could explain the feeling he had for the last 2 weeks which felt familiar, but he ignored as he thought it was just Sasuke letting out his frustrations, but now that he focused a bit more, it wasn't Sasuke, no, he sensed him elsewhere when he used sage mode one time revealing that he was in Kumo with Suigetsu. Instead, the chakra felt more like his, but different. Who, or what, would have chakra like his be doing in the middle of his Clan's old country.

Naruto shook himself out of his thoughts, the answers to his new questions would be answered once he arrived visited the Land of Eddy; something he wanted to do for a while since he needed more of his clan's knowledge as he technically learnt all he can from what Mito and his parents left behind. Not that he wasn't progressing; through trial and error, he was already experimenting with new seals that have never been thought possible, in fact, he created a new range of seals causing the need to put it under a new category in the history of Fuinjutsu, for now, it was under the name 'E.T' or 'Extra-terrestrial' seals since one of the seals Naruto made involved creating a gateway to the world of the Shinigami, The Death God since he thought he could maybe speak to his parents more often if he did that, but Kakashi quickly forbid Naruto from ever using those type of seals as it could potentially release dangerous enemies if not contained properly. Naruto quickly understood this and decided to work on realm-crossing communication seals that allowed to speak to those in the afterlife. But, even with Naruto's revolutionary progress in his clan's art, even he hits a few dead ends, to the point he needs references from his clan's scrolls and the trip to Uzushio would be worthwhile.

Back to Kakashi-sensei's request, he thought about who could help him identify the occurrence and its source. He was, not to brag, the best sensor in all the Shinobi Nations, add to the fact he could enhance it in three different languages (Sage mode, Bijuu mode and Six Paths Sage mode). So, he didn't need another sensor, but someone who could 'look' for the reason for this incident. He thought about getting Sasuke to help, the likeness of this chakra to Naruto's, he thought maybe Sasuke's Rinne Sharingan would be perfect. But the guy was to faraway and wanted to repent for his crimes. So, he thought about anyone similar, so naturally the Hyuga, whose eyes are better are locating chakra sources. He found most of them stuck up and didn't look forward to having to choose a random Hyuga… until something clicked. It didn't need to be a random Hyuga, with a bright smile that could have been mistakened for Gai's. Naruto assured Kakashi that he had the perfect person to accompany him.

"A person who can pinpoint the source of the problem, I got someone, when it comes to tracking and recon, no one is better than Hinata when you need to find something!" Naruto beamed at the mention of Hinata. He didn't notice, but Kakashi smiled under his mask.

Kakashi complimented him with his eye-smile "Yes, that's a very good choice, though, you need to ask the Hyuga head for permission first, as they are going through a little debate now…" he ended. Naruto was curious and wanted to ask, but Kakashi just simply said it's a clan affair. Only those inside, or involved can know. Which of course made Naruto even more eager to know, he wondered if Hinata would be willing to divulge the information, or else he can just use Ninshu which he used on Kakashi for a split second.

His thoughts weren't even about anything important, but rather, Naruto could hear Kakashi's mind screaming 'Just hurry up and go, I have a book that needs to be read', this told Naruto to get going and that he still had a long way to go if he wanted to be able to then sort out people's thoughts like a Yamanaka.

Therefore, he said his farewell and just as he was about to Body Flicker out of the window, Kakashi asked.

"So, Naruto, when is the next instalment of Icha Icha coming out?" he eagerly wanted to know. Since Naruto hasn't been on a mission until the one he just received, he needed a source of income to sustain himself and pay the water and electricity bills. He had thought about making seals to get those things for free, but, relented as he didn't what his new landlord to go bankrupt. So, in both desperation and in memory of his beloved Godfather, he started writing Icha Icha, he would have done it moderately if Kakashi didn't catch him writing it. Which meant, Kakashi was Naruto's manager in a way, the biggest Icha Icha fan equalled that he had to finish it quickly or Ramen was banned.

Naruto groaned "Almost done" before flashing out the window.

 **The Hyuga mansion**

Things at the Hyuga compound from the outside looked fine. But when Naruto neared the gates informing the guys he needed someone to accompany him on a mission. His Negative Emotions Sense was triggered, he felt their frustrations, fear and anticipation for whatever came up. He heard their thoughts like:

'The elders are stuck in their foolish ways!'

'The war is over, there shouldn't be any reason as to have a 'precaution''.

'I guess the unity of the Five Shinobi Nations doesn't mean the Hyuga Clan would do the same, huh?'

'Why must we still bear a curse?'

All these thoughts came from many of the branch members who on the outside looked calm and emotionless, but the fact Naruto's Negative Emotions Sense was picking up these thoughts, then things are never as they seem from a far. It made him want to fulfil his promise to Neji right there and then; he wanted to remove the curse seal and apply a new one that would let the branch members live the rest of their lives without fear of death at any moment and any other malicious curse mark ever again. But, for now, Naruto had to control himself as he needed to do everything right, or else, his efforts the past few months would be in vain.

 _A few minutes later, Hiashi's Office_

Naruto was finally allowed to see Hiashi and was tense. Sure, it wasn't a fear of being taken down, he wasn't trying to be cocky, but he could definitely take on the entire Hyuga clan, minus Hinata, as he was now. However, it was a different type of fear, one of being afraid of rubbing someone the wrong way because if he made a good impression on the head of the clan, then he'd have the support to give his solution to the Hyuga clan's internal problem. So, Naruto could not afford to mess this up! He put on a determined face as soon as he entered his office.

"Good evening, Lord Hiashi" Naruto formally greeted immensely surprising the said Hyuga, but years of diplomatic training and taking the Hyuga elders' bullshit allowed him to hide it. Unfortunately, Naruto also decided to keep his Ninshu active for these kind of talks, and all this on-the-field experience was really making it easier to use it; he didn't need to focus so much to read one's feelings and thoughts.

Naruto on his supposed-to-be three-year training journey with Jiraiya, he was taught etiquette by him as much as he protested, Jiraiya finally had him taking it to heart when he said, "Being a Shinobi isn't just about firing off Jutsus. The best always knows how to blend in and win battles without them even starting through things like formalities."

Despite not having been in many of these formal meetings, Naruto still had his etiquette skills fresh and made better due to the slow merging of Ashura's memories of these things.

Back to the conversation at hand. Hiashi greeted back stoically.

"Likewise, to you, Uzumaki-san, or should I say, Uzumaki-sama?" almost as if he tried to tell a joke, but failed horribly.

Naruto was genuinely confused, he didn't bother to hide it, but showed it politely by widening his eyes and decided to put off his two reasons; asking for Hinata and his seal alternative.

"Why would you call me that, if I may ask?" Naruto questioned, this formal talk was really taking his toll on him, but his sage persona was doing its magic.

Hiashi let out a smirk, "I was best friends with your parents, especially your father Minato, like your mother Kushina was with my late wife Hikari-chan" letting out some emotions whilst being formal.

Naruto was shocked to say the least. This guy was best friends with his parents. He voiced his thoughts.

"I have to say, I'm really surprised, I never thought that you'd know my parents personally. But never mind that, why would you call me Uzumaki-sama?" he asked.

Hiashi then began reasoning "Through Kushina, I know of the Uzumaki clan and how you are one of the last known males who can become clan heir, personally I was one of the few who wanted to adopt you along with my wife." Naruto was shocked learning that this seemly cold-hearted father would have it in him to think about doing something so warm and tender for him, but nodded in understanding.

Hiashi continued, "I'm sure you know already, your clan, the Uzumaki, were feared for their mastery of Fuinjutsu, of course, that's where Konoha, especially Minato, got much of their sealing knowledge. I do hope you doing your heritage proud" he stated.

Naruto gave a smile "No worries, I've been through all the scrolls that have been left for me", Hiashi was shocked in all honesty, he knew of the Uzumaki's bloodline towards quickly gaining and developing an unrivalled mastery of seals, but for Naruto to have gone through all of his parents' notes then he must have an especially strong affinity for it.

Naruto continued before Hiashi could even speak "I do hope to make my late family, and recently discovered cousin, Karin-neechan, proud, but I strive for self-improvement I can be so I can one day look in the mirror and say I'm proud of myself, regardless of what others may say about my capabilities" he modestly stated.

This unknowingly to Naruto, made Hiashi respect the once, to be blunt, plain stupid boy to a man that one could only dream to be, even more than before.

'He doesn't let others' acknowledgement to go to his head and he still believes that he must become more if he wants to be proud of himself despite his fame and heritage' Hiashi thought.

'He really is the only one for my daughter' he mused.

Naruto used this topic about the Uzumaki clan to transition to what he really came for.

"Speaking of the Uzumaki clan, I have been given a diplomatic mission to Iwa, also something has happened in my clan's old homeland, Uzushiogakure, that must be investigated immediate before that. So, I wanted to request a Hyuga to accompany me for both diplomatic support and assistance for this investigation" Naruto said.

Hiashi was letting the information sink in, he already knew that a political event was happening which happened to be Iwa since he was invited to go over there next week. But for something to happen in Uzushiogakure that needed to be investigated immediately was big news. At the request of a Hyuga, he already knew who he wanted to join him.

Hiashi then spoke up, "If you need someone for both those reasons, then I suggest you take my daughter, Hinata" surprising Naruto that he would just recommend her on the spot, but Hiashi had other reasons as well.

Naruto beamed "Thank you very much Lord Hiashi!" with a child-like radiance that made the Hyuga clan head smile.

However, Hiashi needed to ask something else, "Who else is joining you on your venture Uzumaki-san?" he asked.

Naruto gestured with his hand saying "Just Naruto please and no, it's just Hinata and I going to Uzushiogakure! So, it's going to be really fun!" he excitedly said forgetting that this was a formal meeting and the last part dug his own grave.

Hiashi's fatherly overprotectiveness for his daughters' safety and virtues kicked in. He has had people in the past try to kidnap his daughter for the sake of 'stealing' her bloodline and in more recent years, overeager and spoiled rich sons of Daimyos and heirs from so-called 'prestigious' clans who desired to court his eldest daughter. Which he has furiously refused. So, hearing a man say the word 'fun' with his eldest daughter naturally ticked him off.

Hiashi directed some killer intent towards Naruto, making him flinch with the Hyuga glare for a tasteful effect.

Hiashi began "Excuse, Naruto! But just what are you planning on doing with my daughter, alone on a mission!?" he demanded, Naruto lost the meaning of his question so he honestly replied.

"Oh, I mean we are on a mission to a place we have never been before, it's really fun to see what you can't guess. Also, Hinata, is a very enjoyable person to be with, so I can't wait to tell each other stories, joke around and see the sights!" making Hiashi's fear of him taking advantage of his daughter melt away. But, he knew that Naruto was a bit of a pervert due to his association with Jiraiya. Yet, Naruto completely lost the meaning of his earlier demand, meaning he now worried if he'd ever see his daughter as a woman.

Hiashi took a leap of faith, "I see… on the topic of Hinata, tell me your thoughts of her. What do you like about her and what she is to you? Hoping to at least have a guarantee for his hopes.

Naruto became excited and began to rant and show his admiration of Hinata "Oh, she is incredible! She is a person that I look up to! She's kind, caring, strong, inspirational and best of all she never gives up at the things she puts her mind to! So, I am happy that she is my best friend!" surprising and impressing Hiashi who thought 'What do you know, he likes my daughter for her character, though he considers her his best friend, his feelings run deeper than what most devoted lovers have for each other' he smiled which Naruto caught but didn't point out.

Hiashi then nodded "I see, then I know you'll care for her more than yourself" earning a nod from Naruto.

"Hinata isn't in the compound right now as she is training around a nearby waterfall she has found" making Naruto smile and about to leave until he remembered.

"Oh, one more thing Lord Hiashi" catching his attention.

"I have something I'd like to offer to your clan as a sign of goodwill if possible" Naruto said, yet again surprising Hiashi. 'He's called the number one unpredictable ninja for a reason'.

"What do you have to offer, Naruto?" Hiashi asked.

Naruto took a serious face "I've made a bit of progress in Fuinjutsu. And I have made a new seal to end the tradition of the Caged Bird Seal's usage" for the first time making Hiashi's jaw drop.

"What!?" Hiashi slammed his hands into his desk "Do not fool around with me, Naruto! If you are lying, then I won't hesitate to kill you!" Naruto expected this reaction though.

Naruto began to reassure Hiashi, "I'm not lying Lord Hiashi, I have it with me right now" he claimed and proved as he pulled out a scroll and unrolled it. What it showed was a series of very complex array of symbols and other unknown pictograms of some sort along with uniquely drawn symbolisms, showing signs that this was a completely original seal designed and crafted by Naruto in his style. But what caught Hiashi's attention the most was the Kanji slot in the middle, which had the character for 'Unity'. He thought that this was too good to be true and questioned its legitimacy. Naruto confirmed to him it was real by explaining as simply as possible what every function did. To completely rid him of any doubts, he showed that he had the seal placed on him, even though on Naruto's left palm it said 'Promise' Naruto explained that if desired, he can customize the look of the seal.

Hiashi finally recovered from his episode before asking.

"Okay, I'd like to have this seal used right away, but we have to convince the elders first. Have you thought of that? Naruto nodded.

"Yes, I have Lord Hiashi, that's why I wanted to show you first and request an audience with the entire clan to make my offer" Hiashi agreed.

"Okay, but do come prepared, I'll have the appointment setup in 9 months time from now same day in the afternoon." Hiashi advised. Naruto nodded and was about to leave. But Hiashi had one more question.

"Does my daughter know about this?" he asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Not yet anyway, I want to tell her on the way to Uzushiogakure, but I do want to surprise her" he mischievously smiled, making Hiashi smile.

"I support the second option, if you can, anyways it was good talking with you." He sent him off and Naruto bowed before leaving to find Hinata.

Once Naruto left, Hiashi took out an old document that was well-maintained. It was made between him and his wife, Hikari alongside Minato and his wife Kushina when both the said women were pregnant finally knowing the genders of their children. So, they joked how if one of the women was of the other gender they would have gotten married instead, so they thought they would put little Naruto and Hinata as they called them in their bellies into a betrothal contract saying they will love each other. How right they were…

Hiashi mused "I guess mothers do know what's best for their children…"

 **With Naruto, his POV**

Once I was a good 15 minutes away from the Hyuga Compound, I was suddenly let go of a breath I didn't know that I was holding.

I never thought it would be that tense talking to the Hyuga Clan head, Hiashi. Then I remembered the audience in 9 months, which made me shiver in fear, how the hell am I meant to survive a hundred Hiashi lookalikes staring at me!?

Once I relaxed myself, I was off towards the only waterfall I knew that was near Konoha; Where I trained in elemental manipulation. I knew Hinata would be at that particular one as I wanted to show her the cool waterfall Captain Yamato made for me back when I was making the Rasen Shuriken. Which reminds me I still need to show her my garden I keep on my apartment building's roof (yes, on the roof and I have the key to the door, not that I need it, just to keep others away from it).

I could remember her face when she saw the waterfall, she looked just like a little kid who just had a bunch of presents dropped in front of them.

As I made my way to the waterfall, I didn't see her there surprisingly. Was I wrong? That couldn't be, my guesses are usually right. Just as I was about to gather natural energy. I heard a splash, it sounded pretty far away, like really far away… The only reason I could hear it was due to my enhanced hearing due to Kurama and the other 8 guys (Oi! At least say my name! Shukaku's voice went unheard) and the momentary focus that comes with gathering Natural energy.

Out of pure curiosity and believing that it might be Hinata, I power walked in the general direction the sounds were coming from. And did I mention just how far it was?

 **An hour later, full moon**

I could not believe that after an hour of walking, the water from the Yamato's waterfall went all the way here. I thought about just using sage mode and then search for Hinata that way. But, there was just something familiar about this situation, the full moon in the night sky, the trees of the forest and the pitter patter of water, it was as if I was reliving a memory… 'Click'

Now I remember, the bikouchu mission that one night, where I needed to take a leak, after that I heard a sound and followed the source to find the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, even more so than my mom and that was despite having short hair! I just wish I saw her face. Then I thought, 'wait am I going to see her again' it was unlikely, but the situation was just too similar to not be. I hoped she was there, I still dream about that girl from time to time and so I walked a bit faster. I wanted to meet her!

I finally reached a lake that had fluoride blue water that glowed like a neon light which in turn made the edge of the lake's grass and lilies to glow too. The moon was even perfectly placed at the centre… there she was… the girl of his dreams! My how she had grown! If he thought the girl he saw 5 years ago was the definition of the word beautiful, then this woman was just… unreal! Her legs were lean, with toned and thick thighs, a bubbly shaped behind that formed what seemed to be a upside-down heart shape, which merged into a thin waist that sported a well-toned flat stomach which trailed up to her… did she have melons on her chest, oh god, those were her boobs! They had to at least be Granny Tsunade's size, or even a bit bigger! But this woman, the water fairy, defied gravity much like the water that floated around her… And damn, she looked angelic with that long, free-flowing silky hair.

I shook my head, eyes filled with determination. I was not gonna fall into the water like last time. I was going to get to know her and maybe, just maybe I could pursue someone for real this time! Not that childish crush I faked on Sakura to compete with Sasuke and to cover up the fact I didn't know love!

With my head, held high, taking careful steps, I managed to water walk onto the lake's surface, as I got closer, I felt more enticed by the woman's movements that shook her shapely-hips and bounced her chest. Her hair, in the moonlight, shone a midnight-blue. But what I was eager to see was her face, I haven't gotten close enough to make out her face, but I could tell she was gorgeous and that her eyes were closed. I finally decided to stop, I was close to the edge of the water dome she made and I was still drinking in her heavenly visage. After taking a deep breath, I took the leap of faith.

"Hey there" I greeted with my best confident voice, making the woman stop and flinch. I must have scared her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but, I really wanted to meet y…" he tried to say, but was cut off by a quiet and smooth voice that was oddly familiar.

"N-N-N-Na-Naru-u-ru-t-t-to-kun? The water fairy said. Wait! She knows my name! Could she have been one of my fans!? No, it can't be, then I would have remembered… oh yeah, I didn't she her face and she had short-hair back then. So, how does she know my name? Why did she sound familiar?

"Hey, how do you know my name? You know, you sound just like my best friend Hin-!" I was saying until I finally saw this angel's face, she was mesmerising! But that was not what shocked me, I finally saw her eyes, they were twinkling, milky and lavender eyes that held no pupils which I only knew one person who had them.

I looked at her once more, I realised who I was talking to…

"I-Is t-that you, Hinata?" I put out in disbelief, she was the girl of my dreams!? Then I remembered how I managed to describe her body, which made me feel flushed and guilty.

The now-reveal Hinata stated gathering her breath and was hyperventilating. Taking on a new full body skin tone of radioactive red. She realised that her modesty was revealed for the whole world to see and that Naruto, unlike last time, managed to successfully approach her. She gasped in embarrassment, cupping her breast and jumped away, which only made things worse.

When Hinata jumped away, Naruto then had one last gaze over the water fairy, Hinata's body, burning a pleasant image in his mind for all his dreams to come. Once this happened, Naruto realised she was naked! Hyuga Hinata, that girl who always wore baggy clothes and never really revealed much was naked, doing an erotic naked dance on the water, sure, he has seen her in a towel once when Lee broke the bathhouse roof. She was the girl of his dreams this whole time!

But I had no time to ponder and Hinata did something I was sure only Ino and Sakura combined could do, scream like a vulture!

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Hinata screamed out of sheer embarrassment.

I finally got knocked out of my trance and took on a massive red blush. I then realised, that she was trying to cover herself and had taken to dropping into the water with only her head peeking out looking at me. And I swear she was so embarrassed that I felt the water heat up, was that steam? I finally got my voice back.

"S-say, why don't we head by to dry land a-an-d settle down for the n-night?" I asked stuttering. Hinata took on even hotter blush as the water began boiling, since when did she know Boil release!? Then I realised the context of my words and corrected my intentions.

"Ahhh… I mean, um, you know, set up camp to rest for the night, it is kind of late! Dattebayo!" I quickly said. Fortunately, she calmed down and began swimming towards the direction I came from.

Once I reached the edge, I turned towards her and saw she wasn't getting out. I blushed again, knowing that she was naked underneath the water, so I took my jacket off and offered it to her.

"Here you go Hinata, it's pretty cold in the water and it'd take too long to get your clothes as I don't know where they are" I reasoned finally not stuttering. Hinata nodded and I left the jacket.

"I'll go on ahead and make a fire" and took off, I didn't want her to see the 'Hokage tower' I grew in my pants. So, I quickly went and took 'care' of that first before making a fire. I felt like a piece of crap for beating off to Hinata, my best friend, my hero and here I am using her image like a stress relief method. I could only hope that she'd still be willing to be my friend.

 **10 minutes later**

I finally calmed myself down, the fire was burning nicely and gave me something to occupy my mind with other than Hinata's body.

Speak of the devil, she came to the fire and what I saw made all my earlier efforts in vain. She was wearing my jacket, but she wore it so damn well, she gripped it closely to herself reminding me badly of her curves and the bottom of my jacket ended just above mid-thighs; it made her look cute, beautiful and sexy all at once! How was that possible!? Despite what had happened, she greeted me shyly as usual and sat next to me, which I swear all my earlier efforts to 'trim' the once 'Hokage Tower' was in vain. Nevertheless, I greeted back with a bit more timidness that was very unlike me.

After a bit of awkward silence, I finally spoke up.

"Sorry about that Hinata… I was actually trying to look for you." I said.

Hinata then looks at me with wide-eyes and sported a red blush.

"No! No! I didn't mean I tried to find you naked! I was going to ask you to come with me on a mission for tomorrow, I asked your Dad and everything!" I assured her. She calmed down a bit and nodded.

"O-Okay, you didn't mean to see me like that" she quietly said, I heard a bit of disappointment in her voice so I decided to do something I usually don't do.

"But when I heard water drops from afar, it reminded me of that beautiful girl I saw from years ago, so I thought maybe I'd follow the sounds and I could see her again…" I told her and she blushed at being called beautiful.

"I never thought that the girl of my dreams would have been you Hinata!" I said. She erupted in colour. But then she calmed down a bit and looked sad again.

"So, are y-you… disappointed t-that it was me?" she asked faking a forlorn expression. It worked.

"No, I'm actually glad! It just makes everything seem more real now, like that it's not impossible to be with her, since she has always been there by my side" I told her. Hinata was pleased with the outcome but didn't expect what sounded like a confession from Naruto.

We looked into each other's eyes, I saw in her moonlit lavender pearls, that they twinkled when amused and shone brightly when she hid her excitement. I saw that she was expecting me to say something next, I knew that it was now or never, might as well tell her how I feel and my intentions before anything between us happens.

 **Hinata's POV**

As we looked into each other's eyes, I was hiding my excitement and anticipation. I knew that it was futile to do so as his eyes that read the soul could see that. I always admired his eyes from afar, or any rare occasion, look into them up close only for me to be overwhelmed by his sky-blue eyes' intensity making me faint. But now that I wasn't looking away, I saw a radiance that can never be surpassed…

His eyes weren't just and simple amazing shade of blue, they were just pre-dominantly blue like the sky, but with a hair-thin strands of other shades of blue; his eyes held every shade of blue from the palest blue threads to the ocean deep gradient on the edge of his iris. In short, his eyes looked like a blue moissanite gem that held an even higher refractive index than a genuine one. An in this moonlit night, they made them sparkle highlighting the pale blues and emphasising the darker shades. All this was enhanced by Naruto's otherworldly determination that goes beyond death and I was shocked by his next words.

"Looking at you now, I can see you really are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with in this world and the next… forever and ever, even when we die" Naruto confessed. Hinata already heard his feelings yesterday from the memorial event, she saw Neji's ghost and Naruto spilled his heart's deepest secret concerning her. But hearing him say it to her was so different. So much better…

"Oh Naruto…" I said with happy tears threatening to come out. But I was hushed by his fingers on my lips.

"But for now, I can't be with you just yet" Naruto told me. I knew what came next, but that still didn't make me feel disappointed, but what he did say… well… if there was possibly an emotion that was stronger than love then I had it towards him.

"You may be the one I dream of, but I can't say the same about me for you, so that's why I can't be with you yet, why haven't said anything about your confession since Pain destroyed Konoha. I need to become a better me, not a different person, but a better Naruto and then, finally the man of your dreams so I can be worthy of you…" Naruto said with conviction. Oh, he does not know that just simply saying that made him more than worthy in my eyes.

"Also, when I saw you after the Pain incident, I still get flashbacks of it. But I also didn't respond to your feelings because I knew how much you love your clan, your family and your dream to unite the clan and just be a huge family. I didn't want to force you to choose either me, or your family whom you know love you" Naruto told me. I was shocked, he sacrificed his own happiness because he didn't want me to give up on my dream and leave my family. How selfless can he be!

I finally spoke up, "Thank you Naruto, for letting me know that you return my feelings, no, you're a stronger as you believe that you need to be a better you just to be with me. I'm grateful that you didn't want to force me to give up my dream, and my family just to be together. So, that's why, I'll wait again, until you become the Naruto I know you can be." I told him with conviction.

 **Noone's POV**

Naruto and Hinata, finally confessed their feelings for each other. They looked at each other's eyes for some time. Naruto, feeling a surge of happiness that Hinata was still waiting for him, and looked forward to his completion of becoming the man of her dreams; which for Naruto was to become the next sage. He smiled a true smile and so did she. Hinata scooted closer to Naruto and snuggled into his striated chest promptly falling asleep. Naruto looked on in happiness, they were for now best friend by relationship, but by heart, they were soulmates. Knowing that the night was cold and the fire was dimming, he called upon his golden chakra shroud and enveloped them in a warm cloak of chakra that dried Hinata up and kept them both warm.

Then, they finally fell asleep on each other as if they completed each other. A true Yin and Yang pair.

* * *

 **Omake: The plan**

After Hiashi sent Naruto on his way to Hinata and stopped looking at the betrothal contract that his and Minato's wifes practically begged them to make. He Put it back and order Ko, Hinata's supervisor to come in.

Ko walked and greeted Hiashi formally, he likewise did the same. But Ko had to ask.

"Lord Hiashi, why did you tell the Uzumaki where Hinata-sama is, right now she is doing her water training which needs to be done in... the buff" Ko reminded Hiashi with a small blush at the mention of Hinata being naked.

Hiashi caught him off-guard with a smile that told him there was a troublesome reason behind his actions.

"That's the point Ko, I believe you heard and saw that Naruto has progressed quite a bit in Fuinjutsu" Hiashi said. Ko nodded and still surprised the boy he once tried to keep away from Hinata was now the Hyuga clan's only hope.

"If he sees my daughter naked, then he'd have no choice but adhere to our traditions" Hiashi said making Ko pale.

"L-Lord Hi-Hiashi! You honestly don't mean..." Ko stuttered in horror.

"Yes, they already love each other and I'm just getting them together faster" Hiashi admitted in humor.

Ko could not believe that Hiashi wanted Naruto to wedlock Hinata via seeing her naked.

 **Ko's current location**

Which is why he was following Naruto as Hiashi ordered from afar and was pleasantly surprised as Hiashi was right. Ko heard the entire confession Naruto said to Hinata and had to agree. Naruto's feelings go beyond simply being there for her, in fact, Hinata was the person Naruto would 'give up' for.

Due to the smile on Hinata's sleep face, Ko held back his protective side just this once.

* * *

 **Another chapter done, this was originally meant to simply be Naruto finds Hinata and they take off to Uzushiogakure.**

 **But I decided with where all this was going, it would be better to have a cheesy scene before that. Also, Hinata is much like the rest of the younger generation, she only knows of Naruto's announced heritage, his father, the Fourth Hokage and Jiraiya his Godfather, both being sealing masters. She doesn't know that Naruto's skills surpass both them as they are due to shadow clones and his Fuinjutsu affinity. Also, the Uzumaki clan is still unknown to her and the rest of their friends. So, when she visits Uzushiogakure with Naruto, she'll be surprised that Naruto has a clan that specializes in Fuinjutsu due to having unrivaled life spans and a bloodline-ish affinity for it. This will be a key factor in them getting together since the elders purposely did not tell her this as his clan made the Caged Bird Seal and Naruto already knows how to remove it in many different ways.**

 **Also, I know I kind of made Naruto OP in Fuinjutsu, but remember, he has a huge imagination. So it wouldn't be surprising for him to end up conjuring seals in a new category. The E.T seals he has created will be explained next chapter as they go to Uzushiogakure. Also, expect this encounter between Naruto and Hinata to boost the latter's confidence to the point she'll have a costume change.**

 **Also, thanks for reading this fanfic, I'm pleasantly surprised that this is actually enjoyable by some people.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **I'm here with another chapter, this one is quite long and has a battle that I which could have happened in a Naruto spinoff by the original creators.**

 **Also, this one will feature a lot about Hinata's importance in the story and Naruto gaining new knowledge which will make him stronger, but not OP.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Finding one's self**

 **7AM, at the camp site near the lake.**

The sun had risen, its rays removing the veil called night to reveal the natural beauty of Konoha's forest and other flora. But for our favourite blonde, still knucklehead but improving! It woke him up to a sight that he'd relive in his dreams; Hinata's sleeping face.

He thought to himself, 'Why didn't face my fears and tell her my feelings earlier? This would be something that I could have looked forward to every morning!' he wondered.

He relished how soft and smooth her skin and hair was for a while. He then noticed that it was a little too bright due to his chakra cloak still being active, so he deactivated it only to blush furiously.

Hinata was laying on top of him in his jacket, but was loosened enough that he could see her cleavage pressed up against his stomach making them more pronounced. He wanted to keep staring, but he remembered that they had to go back to the Hyuga compound to get some of her gear for their trip to Uzushiogakure and Iwa. So, he slipped out underneath her carefully as to not to hurt her or wake her up. Then went back to the lake to wash his face and look for her clothes, which included her underwear. Telling himself that it's okay because he wanted her to get ready to head back, he willed himself not to pay too much attention to her under garments.

 **Back to the campsite**

Hinata began to stir, she didn't want to wake up yet but a sound startled her making her head shoot up. To her relief it was Naruto who had come back with her clothes.

"Morning sunshine!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, calling her sunshine due to the meaning of her name.

"Morning Naru-kun!" she said playfully surprising Naruto with her newfound confidence now that he had seen her naked.

Naruto grinned "Naru-kun ay! Then I'll call you Hina-chan! Tebayo!" he insisted, Hinata blushed at the affectionate title but smiled either way.

After they finished flirting, Naruto gave Hinata her clothes and gave her some privacy to change into them. To 'little Naruto's' relief and Naruto's disappointment, she was back in her usual baggy attire. Once they finished changing, they headed back to the village and onwards to the Hyuga compound. Where they saw a stoic Hiashi awaiting their arrival.

"Good morning Lord Hiashi" Naruto greeted.

"Good morning Father" Hinata greeted at the same time. Hiashi did the same to them likewise and took notice of how much more 'touchy' the two were, making him inwardly grin at how effective his plan was.

"Good morning to you two as well, I'm sure Naruto has informed you that he requested you to accompany him on a mission to Uzushiogakure." Hiashi said. Hinata nodded in confirmation.

"With that settled, please head inside and get ready, I need to talk to Naruto-san for a bit" hiashi told her before she went inside. Once she was out of earshot, Hiashi tuned to face Naruto staging a menacing glare making Naruto pale.

"Naruto, we need to add something else to the appointment that we agree upon in 9 months" Hiashi informed him, Naruto paled less and nodded.

"Sure, what is it that we need to talk about?" Naruto asked.

"I am very well aware of what has transpired between my daughter and you last night." Hiashi stated, making Naruto blush and pale in fear.

"I-I-I didn't m-mean to see her naked a second time! I swear, I didn't know it was her the first time and this time nothing was stopping me!" Naruto admitted at a rapid-fire pace. What Naruto said, made Hiashi raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by second time?" Hiashi questioned more out of curiosity than anger but kept that mask for his image.

"On the Bikouchu mission, I saw this waterfall with a really beautiful girl dancing in it. I didn't know it was Hinata, but I was dreaming of her for years to come, and this time I finally saw her again, but I found out it was Hinata and I ended up telling her my feelings." Naruto said.

'Looks like there wasn't a need to set that up' Hiashi mused.

"I see… Anyway, we will discuss this matter at the scheduled audience, for now you and Hinata have a mission to complete. Also, I'll be seeing you in Iwa." He said. Naruto relaxed, although he wondered why the 'incident' needed to be discussed in the audience.

"Okay, but why are you going to be in Iwa? Naruto asked.

"I'm seen as one of Konoha's most influential political figures, so of course they'll send me to handle such matters" Hiashi answered. Naruto nodded impressed. He wondered if his mother had to do any of this stuff back in her homeland.

Once they finished talking, Hiashi bid farewell to Naruto and he did the same. A few minutes later Hinata finally came out ready to go. And she was indeed ready.

Instead of her usual blue baggy pants and baggy cream-coloured jacket. She was wearing a form-fitting, sleeveless lavender Kimono-styled blouse with a dark purple obi holding it together. With Dark brown chino short-shorts that revealed much of her legs. Even lower she wore black knee-high leggings and black shinobi boots. (Her outfit in 'The Last'). Her hair was even done with a few curls at the ends across her back.

Stunned by her look for a few minutes, Naruto smiled at her.

"Wow Hinata, you look great! Ready for anything!" he complimented.

Hinata blushed prettily and thanked him for admiring her new look. She was glad that she bought this as she found it harder to get used to the heat in recent years.

Naruto exclaimed that it was time to go, but something clicked in his mind, he was going to be gone for about 6-8 months meant he'd have to hold off his Jounin studies with Iruka-sensei. So, he decided to find him first before anything.

 **At Iruka's place**

Finally arriving at his home with Hinata closely following behind. He knocked on Iruka's door whilst yelling "Oi! Iruka-sensei! Wake up!".

Hinata hit him lightly and scolded "Naru-kun! He's probably asleep!"

"Ouch! Hina-chan! This is how he wakes up!" he rebutted with a fake pout.

Then at that moment, Iruka-sensei opened the door looking, to put it bluntly, looking like shit! His eyes were groggy and his clothes had signs of being torn at.

"Oh! Ah! Naruto… um… ah Good morning 'yawn' what brings you here?" he asked in a rushed voice.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said ignoring his state "I was going to let you know that I'm going on a mission for the next 8 months to Uzushio and Iwa with Hina-chan! So, you don't have to worry about classes anytime soon" he informed him, if Iruka wasn't so tired, he would have noticed Hinata and Naruto's affectionate way of addressing her. But he nodded quickly until a seductive voice purred his name.

"Iru-kunnn! Come back here, I want to gobble up your extra-large 'Dango'!" A barely dressed Anko purred whilst dragging Iruka back inside.

Iruka was frantic "Oh… ahh okay! Um well thanks for lettingme know Naruto and good luck on your first mission in ages!" before slamming the door closed on a slack-jawed Naruto and a blushing Hinata.

"Let's pretend we never saw that" Naruto suggested.

"Agreed" Hinata complied and they both set off towards the village gates at a quick pace before they heard the moaning sounds from within Iruka's home.

 **Nearing the gates**

As Naruto and Hinata approached the gates, they met Sakura with Ino who was leaning on a blushing? Sai. They noticed the two were going somewhere quickly.

Sakura called out to them "Oi! Naruto, Hinata where are you two going?" getting their attention.

"Oh, hey Sakura-chan! Hina-chan and I going on a mission together to the Whirlpool and then Iwa! Isn't that great!" He exclaimed. The affectionate title was not lost on any of them and they became excited.

Ino inquired "Hhmm… Hina-chan!? What happened between you two?" she asked and was pleased with the a slightly pink Naruto.

"Oh! That… um… I guess what happened is that I find that Hinata is my best friend! So, I wanted to show it to her by calling her Hina-chan!" Quickly covering up the fact that he told her his feelings last night. Apparently Hinata caught the idea and played along.

"Ye-Yeah, Naru-kun and I have been getting along so well and I guess that we just gave each other nick names!" Hinata said. They caught the title she had given him but accepted their reasons as sufficient.

Then the girls noticed Hinata's new look and squealed.

Ino said "Damn Hinata! You are looking hot!" making Hinata blush at the compliments out embarrassment as no one ever really took her looks into consideration.

Sakura also admired her "Yeah Hinata, your letting your figure shine, every guy is staring at you right now!"

In their minds they were both thinking 'Why don't I have a figure like that! Hinata is so lucky!'

As if on cue, all the guys looking walked away to avoid being caught again. Naruto however, was not too pleased but didn't want to ruin the mood.

Naruto instead beamed "Hehe! Told you two that Hinata looks better than both of you without a jacket!" he exclaimed reminding them of what he said at the zenzai restaurant causing both girls to grow tick marks and Sai to let out some killing intent.

Out of pure frustration the girls and Sai who was dragged along took off whilst saying a harsh good luck to the two on their mission. Naruto and Hinata decided before they go, they'll get something to eat first as they haven't eaten yet. Of course, ramen was a good one, but Naruto asked if Hinata wanted something else for breakfast like cinnamon buns and milk, which she excited nodded. They both went off and Naruto found himself quite liking Hinata's favourite food and enjoying her newfound ravenous nature; it bought out her familiar side and cast away her formal or reserved nature.

 **Outside the gates**

After having a 'sweet' time at the Bakery, Naruto and Hinata began their trip to Uzushiogakure talking about everything that they could come up with. They were talking about things that even they would never reveal to all their other friends, for instance Naruto in the topic of botany that Hinata brought up, she discovered that Naruto loved growing plants more than he ever did pranking and even though he didn't actually know the meaning of the flowers, he instead gave them a meaning based on how they made him feel, which was always spot on for what those flowers meant which made Hinata quite envious of his natural tendency towards the language of flower, even when she knew it better, yet she still had to read books to acquire that knowledge. For Naruto, he learnt more about Hinata's home life, which made him feel a connection with her; he always wanted to know who his family is, he wanted to know what 'family' was. Sure, the Konoha shinobi of his generation was the closest thing he built to a family, but they were the ones who drove him to pursue his strength not people who could fill the abyss in his heart. Yet, here was Hinata, someone who had a huge family she loved dearly, but, they rejected her due to being different; kind and caring. She wished her clan could be a family again, no matter the cost, but Naruto assured her that things will happen if she puts the effort in and that he'll be right there by her side to push onwards to her goal. She smiled at him at those moments and told him in return that she'd do the same.

 **Over the next 2 days**

The two on the way towards Uzushiogakure finally reached the border. There journey so far was uneventful, but not boring as they had each other.

Naruto showed his culinary skills on the field with the random ingredients he found in the forest and other types of ingredients that Hinata advised could be used. Hinata was honestly surprised that Naruto could cook something other than Ramen and roasted fish. He summoned a giant pot from his seal and filled it water and the ingredients he found with a variety of mushrooms being the main star. Hinata, not wanting to be outshined decided to help and add some spices and strong flavoured berries they found in the area to enhance the flavour. Once it was done, they had made a breakthrough in mushroom soup recipes as this was the best tasting soup any of them ever tried.

Naruto said "This is the best thing I have ever tasted so far! Probably because of you Hina-chan, you are an amazing cook!" making Hinata blush and happy that he enjoyed her cooking that much.

"Thank you Naru-kun, but I never would have had anything this good if you didn't find all those amazing ingredients." Hinata complimented back.

This then turned into a competition in 'who could give the best compliments'. This lasted until they fell asleep for the last two days.

 **The third day, Uzushiogakure.**

Naruto out of playfulness decided to start a competition; a race to the finish line (being Uzushiogakure). Although Hinata knew she'd lose out in stamina, didn't back down and complied. Apparently, even with Naruto's newfound speed, Hinata was not lagging behind in that department, sure Naruto kept his gravity seals active, he was sure that Hinata was now faster than even Sasuke. He wondered how hard she trains herself to get to that level.

After Hinata finally exhausted herself, Naruto was still looking fresh and decided to let her rest for a moment and gave her a food pill which she accepted. Then came something else.

"Oi Hinata, we never really have a chance to train together, so why don't we spar!?" he suggested, Hinata saw no harm in doing this, she wanted to spar with him for a while and there weren't any threats since the war ended.

"Okay, I'd like to see where I measure up to you" Hinata accepted.

Naruto grinned and deactivated his gravity and chakra disruptor seals allowing him full strength. Hinata took her 'Gentle Step' stance whilst likewise, Naruto assumed his 'Six Paths Yang Fist" stance which surprise Hinata. The two began the fight when Hinata activated her Byakugan and dashed towards each other.

However, Naruto had much more power in his muscles to generate and his training made his twitch response faster, meaning it looked like he Body flickered in front of Hinata shocking her in the difference in speed. Using that to his advantage, Naruto delivered a left hook towards Hinata's temple, however, Hinata still had the advantage in agility and her Byakugan allowed her to narrowly avoid the punch and the soon to be followed swipe at her legs which she jumped over whilst she landed the first strike using an 'Air Palm' to knock Naruto back.

Naruto was taken off-guard by this, but wasn't disoriented. As his fall back, he also retaliated with a right roundhouse kick towards Hinata who was still in the air and couldn't avoid the attack blowing her away a good 10 meters.

Fortunately, she had blocked the strike with her arms, but her right arm was out for the count as it was completely numb.

'Amazing, he didn't even kick a pressure point and he still rendered my right arm useless with simply brunt force and technique, his taijutsu whilst still unpredictable, is now more refined and is very varied. He doesn't have a particular style, meaning even I can't foresee what he'll do even with the Byakugan' Hinata analysed.

'I have to use this' Hinata decided.

Naruto saw Hinata assume a pose that brought back memories of when she saved him from Pain and knew what was coming.

'Here it comes' Naruto anticipated and channelled chakra enhancing all his senses including the chakra sense he developed from Ninshu. What he sensed surprised him greatly.

'What the!? This chakra, it's like the Super Gramps, but different, as if this was…' he kept analysing this new chakra until…

"Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!" Hinata exclaimed and her forearms were covered in what appeared to be lion heads. But what shocked Naruto was that they weren't the blue coloured chakra that she normally wielded. It was purple and radiated divinity!

Naruto was shocked, 'The chakra is coming from her, but how!? This chakra is so similar to Super Gramps! Better yet, I can feel her power!' he questioned. But he didn't let that slow him down. Quickly he formed two Rasengans that he let float in front of him; a trick he learnt from Ashura's memories. This time, Hinata was surprised.

'Beautiful! His Rasengans are like the sun! Wait, when was his chakra gold!' She wondered.

Nevertheless, the two stared each other down for a minute before smirking at each other and using that as the que, they charged their attacks towards each other.

What happened was a huge explosion that created a dome of chakra much like the one made between Naruto and Sasuke's last clash. But the dome was a Cyan colour. Once it went away, we see Naruto panting a bit, but still standing and Hinata on her knees from using so much chakra.

"Looks 'gasp' like I'm 'breathe' still behind…" Hinata saids and smiles sadly. Naruto catches this and begins to reassure her.

"No Hina-chan, you're not!" Naruto dismisses her self-depreciation of herself. "You are as strong as anyone else can be! No… In fact, you are unbelievably strong! I couldn't even land a hit on you despite how fast I have gotten and you matched my Rasengan barrage despite the chakra difference!" He encourages her. Hinata is looking at him happily due the sincerity in his voice.

"Also, you got to that level because you pushed yourself to get there! Unlike me… I had to rely on strength that was passed down to me…" Naruto looked down depressed. Hinata's eyes widened, then softened.

"Naruto… It may have been passed down to you. But, it was for a good reason, you proved to others that no matter what, you wouldn't back down without trying or giving it your all. You received your strength because you proved to the world that you have an even greater strength to harness it…" Hinata said. Naruto was in a trance at her words and waited for her to finish.

"… Your determination and guts to never give up!" Hinata finished.

After a moment of looking into each other's eyes. They finally pick themselves off the ground and decided to keep heading onwards to their destination and enjoyed the comfortable silent between them.

After a bit of reviewing in Naruto's mind of the fight, he recalled how Hinata somehow managed to call forth a chakra that was similar to the Sage of Six Paths with a divine feel to it. That deep violet chakra, it even healed her numb right arm when she used the Lion Fist combo. He wondered if she had done anything recently to acquire it.

"Hey Hina-chan!" Naruto called. Hinata looked at him.

"Yes, what is it Naru-kun?" She asked.

"Ya know! When we fought! The Twin Lion Fist combo you used…" Naruto draw on and Hinata wondered 'What about my Twin Lion fist?'

"How did you get that chakra?" Naruto bluntly asked and he forgone elaborating. Hinata was confused.

"Eh!? But it's my chakra from within my body! What was there something wrong?" Hinata questioned.

"Really!? You didn't notice anything different? Um… how can I ask you… Ah Hah! Yeah, what colour is your chakra!?" He suddenly asked.

Hinata was looking at him even more confused, the answer should have been obvious but she answered anyway, "Oh! It's blue like everybody else's" but Naruto just grinned and said "Nope!"

"You were really into the fight, weren't you? Well to answer to my question, your chakra was purple." Naruto corrected her.

Hinata was shocked, her chakra had a different essence now.

"W-What d-do y-y-you mean purple!?" Hinata asked.

Naruto just got excited and said "Yeah, as I said it was purple and not only that, I sensed how it felt as well. It was really similar to Super Sage Gramps!"

"Super Sage Gramps?" Hinata confused by the nickname and was for some reason kind of upset for having chakra similar to an old man by the sound of the nickname.

"Oh, he's the one who gave me my new Sage mode! He's the Sage of Six Paths!" Naruto elaborated. Hinata was shocked.

'Okay, maybe having an old man's chakra isn't so bad' Hinata mused.

"B-but, how is m-my chakra like his?" she asked. Hinata was curious as to how it was possible.

"Well, I when I felt Super Sage Gramps' chakra, it was powerful of course, but the feel was like godly, as if he had an eye over you at all times. Yours is similar, but, yours isn't as suffocating. Your feels more like always looking out for others and divine in an angelic way." Naruto tried to explain. Hinata blushed at the description of her chakra being caring and most of all, divine.

"Who knows, maybe your personality finally affected your chakra!" Naruto stated. This did the trick, despite the newfound confidence Hinata recently gained from being seen naked, she still had her moments. She didn't faint, but did look away as she was too flattered by his unintentional compliment.

"Hahaha! It's nice to see that you can still blush like that around me! It's too cute to ever want me to get rid of that!" Naruto admitted his like for her blushing. That had done it, Hinata went to automatically shut down.

"Eh! You can still do that!" Naruto questioned. He had no choice, he had to carry her now. But, he immediately regretted it, he could feel 'her' pressing up against his back and they still had a good hour and a half away from Uzushiogakure.

 **At the main entry to Uzushiogakure**

The pair had finally made it to their destination. Naruto was still piggy backing Hinata until she came around. When she woke up, she saw the sight that laid before her eyes; the ruins of many high-rise buildings on many islands surrounded by vast lakes which still held many bridges to cross the gap. The largest standout feature was the whirling tides in the centre of the huge lake,needless to say, it drew her in in a figurative sense.

She gasped in amazement at the beauty of this place despite its ruin, the pure waters flowing and gleaming in the sun. The buildings that once stood proud made her feel like reaching the sky rather than feel put down and the vegetation was lush, overall this place made her feel something that even the Hyuga compound couldn't offer her for most of her life; she felt like she belonged here.

Naruto heard her gasp and simply said "It's amazing, right?" he rhetorically asked.

He set her down and she walked forward even deeper into the once rowdy capital only being more enamoured with the place. She has been to many places on both missions with her team and diplomatic trips to all the Shinobi Nations with her clan. Sun in her opinion has a really plain sight to be honest, but she could still feel the charm of the sand, Iwa was majestic as the buildings seems to be part of the mountains the people pride themselves in, but it felt oppressive like you were tied down to the Earth, Kiri was rather impressive with its rare oasis's, but it was mostly mist and water and not much brightness to be seen and Kumo had wonderful sunsets, but a rather gloomy atmosphere. To her, she even if she was born in one of those countries instead, Konoha would always be the most beautiful and brightest place to be at, much like the people, the will of fire that burns brighter as people work together. But for some reason, she still didn't find home anyway, but rather someone; Naruto, he always made every little thing worth living for with his sunny personality.

But now that she has seen Uzushiogakure, she found her place to be! It was imposing, but unlike Iwa, the buildings reached for the skies encouraging her to do the same, even when they were destroyed, it had an even better sunset than Kumo as it made the colourful city contrast it's palette, its waters more crystal clear and sparkling than Kiri ever was, architecture more impressive than Suna and as much as she hated to say it, did Konoha's name better that the actual village; the trees and other flora were more colourful and beautiful than even some of Konoha's best sights.

Her eyes were twinkling in delight at the sight. This city was still so beautiful even in ruin, which made her wonder what it'd be like if it was restored to its former glory. Then, she caught sight was something that shocked her, the swirling pattern that was often seen on the backs of most Chunins and Jounins flak vest. Before she could even ask, Naruto interrupted her thoughts.

"To believe that this beautiful place used to be full of lively people." He started off seemly in a daze. Hinata listened to him paying full attention and saw that he knew about this place's history.

"This use to be a rather loud village as I was told by my mother, she said that it was full of people like me and her, haha!" he told her. Hinata giggled at the thought of an entire village of Narutos running about. Then she wondered who his mother was, she already knew of his father, but not his mother.

"Naru-kun, may I ask, who is your mother?" she asked.

Naruto smiled at her genuinely making her swoon on the inside. "My mother was an amazing woman; she was tough, caring, kind and very beautiful" he described her as he took out a photo. Hinata examinied the photo and recognised immediately, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, pressing his head against a woman's pregnant belly. Hinata was mesmerised by this woman, she was beautiful, her long silky red hair that flowed down to her lower back shined brilliantly, her visage made her resemble a princess. But what stood out the most was her lovely face, yes, she was feminine, but she'd recognise that face and smile anyway, she shared the same face as Naruto! So that's why she always found him cute! He was a pretty boy!

Naruto continued "She told me about my clan that used to govern this country from this village and how it was destroyed during one of the wars." He said, Hinata had another question.

"Naru-kun, you have a clan?" she asked. She thought, 'I never heard of a Namikaze clan since the Fourth is so respected'.

"Yeah! Believe it! I couldn't believe that there was an Uzumaki clan! Better yet, they were feared by the world for their power!" he exclaimed proudly.

"Uzumaki Clan? How come I never heard of such a clan in the Academy?" she asked.

"Well, you remember how the teachers and civilian council didn't like me back then…" Naruto told her sadly making her feel guilty for making him remember and she hugged to comfort him.

Once he could continue he reassured her, "It wasn't all bad, the Old Man Hokage agreed to keep it a secret so no one would come after me like Kumo did for my mother." He told her, Hinata was shocked, she knew what it was like to have a famed bloodline and to believe that his clan was so well known that they came for his mother like they did for her, by the same people as well.

Which begged another question, 'What did his clan have that caused that to happen?'

"Um… Naru-kun, if you don't mind me asking, what was your clan known for? She asked but didn't want to pry as clan matters are strictly, but she was curious.

"Oh, apparently our clan was known for its members by blood to have unrivalled lifeforces, we could live for very long, the average I found out was about 250 years old, so we age slower, we have stronger healing factors to the point some of us can regrow organs if we are more towards the medical side, some of us can use chakra chains that can hold down a Tailed Beast, we have naturally higher chakra reserves giving us both high endurance and crap chakra control…" he said making Hinata giggle, he continued "but that wasn't what the Uzumaki Clan feared for. We have a pre-programmed bloodline affinity for Fuinjutsu which was our specialty, no one rivalled us in that field and our clan member were always made seal masters, due to this Iwa, Kiri and Kumo decided it was too dangerous for my clan to continue living." Naruto told her. Hinata was shocked, his clan was nearly wiped out due to the fear of their clan's specialty Fuinjutsu. She was crying that Naruto's past relatives were nearly extinct, she always saw him alone in the village back then and to know that he was alone out here as well made her heart shatter. She hugged him tightly, apologizing that she should have been there for him and that she should have befriended him earlier. Naruto thanked her and told her not to worry as he has her with him now.

Once Hinata stopped crying, she went on to ask about the last part of his clan, "So, Naru-kun, you said that your clan had a bloodline affinity for Fuinjutsu making them sealing masters if they train in that field enough, is that one of the reasons why you learnt sealing so quickly?" Naruto nodded "Yeah, I'd like to say it was thorugh hardwork and sweat, but to be honest, the bloodline made studying Fuinjutsu smooth, for others it is hard but for me it came naturally like chakra control is for you and your clan" Naruto told her his comparison to the Hyuga making her understand how simple it was for him to learn Fuinjutsu.

Naruto told her a lot about the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline, so he couldn't keep his plan a surprise anymore and decided that he trusts her and wants her to know about his solution.

"Since I told you about our Clan's specialty, I can tell you that most of Konoha's sealing knowledge came from my clan" he informed elciting another shock from her "albeit, we gave weaker ones since most of the seals were too complicated, or required our chakra reserve levels for most of Konoha to use." Hinata couldn't believe that his clan did that much but what came next was a shocker.

"I apologise to you Hina-chan for what I'm gonna say next, but, the Uzumaki Clan is the reason why your family is in turmoil…" Naruto told Hinata with a genuinely guilty voice, Hinata was thinking about what it was and remembered how most of the seals came from his clan… Her eyes widened.

Hinata was shaking and looked at Naruto "Y-you d-d-don't m-mean! The Caged Bird Seal was made by your clan!" she exclaimed out of shock, but Naruto mistook it for resentment.

"I know Hina-chan… I apologise for what my clan did, I hope you can forgive us, but it was only meant to protect you bloodline, but some of your clan used the fact that it wasn't finished to modify it and enslave some people into Branch members. Please forgive my clan, and me! I understand if you hate me now!" Naruto was guiltily saying, but Hinata cut him off with her fingers on his lips.

"No Naruto, I didn't mean to sound like I was angry with your clan, or you, I was just shocked that its origins came from outside the Hyuga clan, but I never would have guessed that it was made by your family!" she said in a happy tone making Naruto feel much better.

But she continued "But, what do you mean that the Caged Bird Seal is incomplete?"

Naruto looked at her with a serious look "Exactly what I mean, it was just meant to protect your clan's bloodline, not enslave. The goal was to make it so the seal was it uncrackable, stop all attempts at getting your bloodline including the removal of your eyes or breeding…" Naruto paused when Hinata's face scrunched in disgust at the mention of breeding, once she relaxed, he continued "… and I was hoping to add a new feature to it that protects the wearer from any other seal that tries to cause harm to them, effectively countering the effects. So no other seal can be placed on the wearer." He finished. Hinata was surprised at the original contents of the Caged Bird Seal, she longed for a solution like that, she even went as far as to search other villages during the time of peace for people who can develop a solution, but all were either frauds who made demands or just couldn't prove they were any better than the average seal practitioner. But what came next blew all her concerns and aware.

Naruto held up his palm, then channelled chakra into it revealing the Kanji for 'promise' refering to his nindo. Naruto said, "After all the planning, trials and learning from my mistakes, I finally got it down" he smiled.

"This is my solution! The Freedom Cry Seal! It does everything the original Caged Bird Seal was meant to do, but I made it in such a way that it adapts to the bearers' chakra meaning only they can control the seal and like I said before, it's uncrackable, even for me, I can only remove since I know the formula by heart." Naruto told her.

Hinata thought she was dreaming, Naruto, the love of her life, held the solution to her clan's situation and had the evidence to prove it was real. She wanted to just kiss him right there and then, but was too dazed that she couldn't do anything until Naruto nudged her.

"You there Hina-chan! Hahaha! Yeah, I know, I wanted to surprise you at a better time, but I believed you should be one of the people who knows about this, your dad already wants it implemented, but we still have to get past the elders and apparently, your dad has a plan to do so during a meeting with the whole clan in 9 months time." Naruto informed her. Hinata didn't believe this was happening so she said

"Thank you so much Naru-kun! I can't believe it still, it has always been my dream to put an end to the use of the Caged Bird Seal." She told him. Naruto then asked an important question from her "Hinata, I'm aware this is your dream, but based on that I want to ask, do you want me to remove the seal myself for you, or do you want me to give you the means to find the solution yourself with help along the way?"

Hinata was confused, but listened on.

"If I wanted to be Hokage, I want to achieve it with my own two hands, my own effort. Not have it handed down to me based on linage or favouritism. So I want to know, do you want me to give the seal to you now and apply as soon as possible, or do you want me to help you achieve your dream with your own effort?" he asked. Hinata was honestly stumped.

She had never thought about it that way, she was always willing to give to others for nothing in return that she never thought about how she'd feel if another person achieved her dream for her. The thought of that made her feel cheapened and regret ever thinking about ever offering herself in return for a solution when she had meetings with various clans who specialised in seals in some department. Therefore, her answer was clear.

"I'd like to have the seal used right away… but I want to achieve it with my own effort, sure I'll accept help along the way, as long as I know that I worked towards it myself, then I call truly be happy with hope my clan with finally become a family!" Hinata said with resolve.

Naruto smiled, she definitely is the woman who never gives up and wouldn't find shortcuts to get achieve her goals.

"Good answer! I would have been happy either way, but I wouldn't be able to leave with myself if I took your dream away from you by doing it for you" Naruto told her with care making her heart melt.

For a couple of minutes, they stared lovingly into each other's eyes and for them they were the only ones who existed. Until someone interrupted.

"Oi! If you're gonna kiss each other, then do it already and stop being so fucking mushy about it!" a loud-mouthed redhead shouted making them look towards the said redhead with bright blushes on their faces.

Naruto's face however, changed to one of excitement at who it was.

"Karin-neechan! How everything been going for ya!?" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully.

"Not too bad! Just got fed up with the cheesy scene I was seeing and decided to add my input since you weren't gonna pounce her anytime soon" Karin said with a sly smirk.

Naruto blushed again and for Hinata she took an even worse colour of red at the thought of that happening.

But Hinata was curious, Naruto told her the inhabitants of his clan were almost wiped out and there was someone out here who he closely called his sister other than Ayame, or Sakura. So, she wondered who this Karin was.

"Um, good afternoon Karin-san, I'm glad to meet another close friend of Naru-kun's, so may I ask what your relationship with him is?" Hinata asked.

"Hey there Boob girl!" Karin greeted, Hinata was flustered at the nickname as well as Naruto who remembered seeing and feeling them.

"I-it's Hinata Hyuga! Please don't call me by that nickname" she told her unbelievably embarrassed.

"Hahaha! My Bro Naruto found himself a cute one! Hahaha!" Karin said. Naruto scratched his head sheepishly and Hinata blushed at being called cute by another girl. Once Karin stopped laughing, she continued.

"So, anyway, to answer Hinata's question, I'm a member of the Uzumaki clan much like him and his cousin." Karin said casually. Hinata was surprised that Naruto had family left over making her smile.

Naruto this time spoke up, "Hey! Karin-nee! What are you doing here! Wasn't there something like a huge chakra disturbance around here?" he asked. Karin suddenly dropped the happy act.

"Ah… So, you sensed it too… the chakra signal is why I'm back here as well as rebuilding our Nation." Karin told him. Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"Yeah, I did when I entered Sage mode a few weeks ago, I'm not as good as sensing as you, but I felt that the chakra was identical to mine, just a bit calmer." Naruto informed Karin.

Karin agreed, "Yeah, I can confirm that statement, the chakra really is just like yours, but it feels older, as in centuries old" she added.

Hinata was surprised yet again, the investigation of this chakra disturbance was identical to Naruto's Chakra? Who, or what could have the same type of chakra he had?

"Excuse me, but I'd like to know where this chakra is coming from using my byakugan so we can see where and what it is exactly" Hinata insisted. Karin nodded and Naruto approved.

"Yeah! See that whirlpool in the centre of that huge-ass lake" Karin pointed. Naruto and Hinata looked.

"It's coming from within there, but I haven't checked it out yet despite being here a few hours before you guys arrived." Karin said.

Naruto looked at his cousin, "Karin-neechan? Why haven't you checked it out yet?" he asked. Karin looked at Naruto with a smirk.

"I wanted to give you some tips of how to turn your girlfriend on!" Karin admitted. Making Hinata blush and Naruto scoff.

"Pfft! You mean like you, as in creepy and horny like you were with Sasuke!" Naruto rebutted.

However, this earned a whip to his balls from one of Karin's Adamatine Sealing Chains that burst forth from the ground. Naruto was rolling on the ground comically and Hinata was by his side in a second using medical jutsu on that particular area.

"Hm! Serves you right! But anyway, once you two are done, we'll all head to the chakra source." Karin then walked away to a building on the edge of the water. Once Naruto and Hinata finally caught up, the three of them were on a round platform with the Uzumaki spiral on it. Karin then used a few handsigns to activate the seals on the platform which made it levitate and move slowly above the whirlpool. While it was moving, Naruto and Hinata were in awe at the existence of such seals, especially Naruto who now had an idea to create a flight seal now once he had some time to himself.

"Amazing, our ancestors sure knew their seals!" Naruto exclaimed with a childish aura making Hinata smile at his antics.

Karin then looked towards him, "On the topic of seals, I heard your conversation earlier about your 'Freedom Cry' Seal you made for the Hinata's clan, care to let me have a look?" she asked and Naruto happily complied and showed her the seal on his palm and the contents of it on the scroll her had in his cape's seal. Hinata looked at it too, but she was left with a headache. She knew that Fuinjutsu was a challenging art but this was ridiculous! If she thought studying to be Clan head and a Jonin was hard, then this was downright out of this world! And to believe that all this came easy to Naruto and his clan members, what kind of intelligence does one need to have to comprehend these seals, hell, she couldn't even see where the base was if it even had one or what sealing style it was derived upon.

Karin then nodded impressed.

"This is pretty damn good seal Bro! But I think the concealing method is a bit dangerous since yours uses a system that spreads the original formula into other sealing methods yours generates as decoys, I only had a look for a few minutes and no one can crack this ever, besides one of us, but to be on the safe side, I suggest maybe add an encryption and scrambler function if you can. That way, it'll hide the crucial bits of this seal's formula and then in conjunction with the decoy system, it'll disguise the formula's components as being something else entirely, for example, the little swirl pattern here that does the chakra recognition can be disguised as a simple chakra storage component in one of the randomly generated decoy seals. That way, the formula can never be piece together from the decoys.

Naruto was in awe and thanked his cousin profusely and Hinata was amazed at Karin's quick analysis of the seal to the point that she even knew how to improve an already uncrackable seal.

'Their bloodline really is quite something' Hinata thought.

As soon as the two Uzumakis were done discussing the 'Freedom Cry' Seal. The platform stopped directly above the centre of the whirlpool. Hinata, on que activated her Byakugan to see the chakra disturbance's source and could barely make out the shape of a three-headed Buddha statue. She told Naruto about it and Naruto nodded slowly.

Naruto decided to go in on his own.

"I have to go on my own guys" he said. Hinata looked at him as if he was crazy and Karin looked at him understandingly.

"Naru-kun! But what if it's dangerous! I can't let you get hurt! I can't..!" Hinata tried to reason, but Naruto gave her a soft look stopping her.

"Don't worry Hina-chan! Whatever it is, I can sense it's not dangerous but rather its calling out to me as if it needs to see me. I don't know why, but it isn't evil" he reassured her. Hinata understood and relented, but warned him to be careful or else she'd never forgive him. Naruto thanked her before jumping down towards the centre of the whirlpool.

 **With Naruto, his POV.**

I wasn't lying when I said the chakra wasn't dangerous. But man did it have presence. It was like it was trying to envelop my own body, but not menacingly but rather warmly. But, that didn't stop him from descending into the whirlpool as it's spiralling waters pushed him quicker into the centre. He braced himself as he saw the centre and was pushed through it.

He then found himself falling into a cavern and landed with skill that he obtained from his Ninja career. What he laid witness to what appeared to be a temple of some sort. He noticed the Uzumaki swirl engraved upon the walls and pillars. What stood out was a statue of the forefather of the Senju and Uzumaki clans; a life-sized statue of Ashura Otsutsuki wearing a necklace with Magatamas on it.

Naruto quickly shook himself out his stupor and activated sage mode to enhance his senses. He followed the chakra signal which lead behind the statue and saw the source sitting on a throne.

The Three-headed Buddha was a chakra construct that was gold. Golden chakra like his, but with a hint of white. The construct then seemly offered Naruto to touch of its outstretched palm. Which Naruto reached out to its palm without hesitation; he felt that he could trust this chakra figure. When contact was made, Naruto was transported to a lush grassland village with a few crop patches, cottages and a large temple with 9-Magatama patterns and the Rinnegan symbol. This was the place where the Sage and his two sons practiced Ninshu! However, Naruto didn't have time to sightsee as someone called out to him.

"It's good to finally meet you, my reincarnate, or should I say Uzumaki Naruto, Hero of the Fourth Great Shinobi War!" the figure greeted him as cheery as Naruto could be.

When Naruto turned to face the person, he almost dropped his jaw on the ground. There, was Otsutsuki Ashura, the younger son of the sage who inherited his 'Body' and ambition standing before him.

"H-h-how are you t-t-talking to me!?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Hahaha! Calm down Naruto! I'm still dead, but I did what my Old man did, I used my chakra to draw you here so I can discuss something with you." Ashura told him. But Naruto had something on his mind.

"You're from Super Gramps Sage's time, so why is it that you can speak so casually like me?" Naruto asked. Ashura scratched the back of his head much like Naruto does.

"Ah! I use Ninshu to handle the translation of my words to others preference or at least a way they can understand." Ashura explained.

Naruto nodded and surprise that Ninshu could allow him to speak to others without the need to learn their language. He filed that away in the back of his mind.

"Okay I get that, but I came here with my friend Hina-chan to check out the chakra disturbance and I was curious as to why it felt like mine. Who knew that it's be you doing that, I thought your chakra was clinging to mine!" Naruto exclaimed making Ashura laugh at the similarities in personality.

"Oh! Sorry, you're so much like me that I couldn't help myself! Anyway, yes, my chakra is reincarnated into you, but my soul is still my own! And my chakra flared due to certain requirements being met and a warning I need to pass down to you." Ashura informed and Naruto listened carefully.

"What I needed to do was get your attention since you have started practicing Ninshu, thanks to our furry friend!" Ashura grinned as well as Naruto.

"I wanted to pass down all the knowledge and all I created through Ninshu as to ensure that the peace you are creating is set for good" Ashura told him and Naruto nodded excited at the prospect of getting more out of Ninshu and the thought of peace.

"Also, as my reincarnate, or chosen descendant I am also giving you the Fuinjutsu knowledge that was lost throughout the ages and tell you the location to where your clans secret vault is that could only be opened by one either me or a reincarnate of mine" Ashura said and Naruto's eyes sparkled at the thought getting even more that what his clan had!

"Hey! Hey! Before you continue, what exactly is in the secret vault!?" Naruto asked and Ashura smiled in excitement for what he was going to say.

"Oh! You'll have to find out, but a clue it that it was the weapons I once used to fight my older brother, Indra." Ashura mentioned.

"Also, thanks Naruto. For ending the feud between me and him. It was my long wish that me and him could finally be at peace" Ashura thanked Naruto.

"It's okay, Sasuke to me was always like the brother I never had, so I should thank you since if you guys were our ancestors, I would have never had someone to share that bond with" Naruto replied. Ashura smiled a true smile similar to Naruto's.

"Thank you… Also, through your mastery of Ninshu, I can feel that your Six Paths powers are right now dormant and incomplete due to the Yin-half of Kurama being asleep and the Yang-half being the most dominate chakra being in you, disrupting the balance required to achieve the Six Paths Senjutsu you once used." Ashura told ahim and Naruto was surprised at his explanation. No wonder why his Six Paths Sage mode was seemly gone! He still obviously had the chakra, but he just couldn't enter that mode and bust out the Truth-Seeker Orbs. He never thought it was due to a balance of Tailed beast chakras.

"That's where I come in and help. I am also going to reawaken that power in you again and this time, you'll keep it for good!" Ashura told him and Naruto had stars in his eyes.

"Really!? Wow Ashura, you are a really awesome guy, tebayo! So, what do we have to do? Naruto complimented, but knew there was going to be a catch, he wasn't that far behind in Ninshu against Ashura and felt that something was going to happen.

To answer his question, Ashura's friendly aura was replaced with one of power and authority.

He simply stated, "You must fight me!" whilst summoning 9 Truth-seeker orbs, two of which he molded into rods.

Naruto taking the hint, entered his Six Paths enhanced Tailed Beast mode replacing his lost arm with a chakra construct and summoned his Dual Nodachi which he immediately enhanced, turning them gold.

Naruto took flight towards Ashura and slash downwards towards him with all his might. Ashura in response, simply crossed his rods and blocked it with ease surprising Naruto.

'He isn't even using any type of chakra mode and he's still as strong as I am, even stronger actually! Naruto thought quickly.

Ashura smirked at his reaction, then he pushed through his rods knocking Naruto off balance, after that, he immediate transformed his rods back into spheres and created a spiralling sphere of white Chakra with the two orbs enhancing its power and Naruto was shocked.

'Rasengan!?' Naruto thought.

Ashura then thrusted the Rasengan towards Naruto, who blocked it, but the power behind it still blew Naruto about at least a kilometre away with the remaining blast creating a canyon. Naruto narrowly avoided this by flying up in the air and was mesmerised by the damage Ashura dealt.

'Amazing! This was my ancestor's power? The power of hard-work and iron guts to never give up!" Naruto pondered in amazement.

However, Ashura decided to take flight as well whilst forming what appeared to be a 'Big Ball Rasengan', but white. As a counter, Naruto created his own 'Big Ball Rasengan' in his golden chakra and flew towards Ashura at break neck speeds.

The two clashed there Rasengans and were evenly match in power output. Then the following explosion followed, a dome of white gold flashed for a couple of seconds, the chakra that remained was so thick that it made a mist in the air that Naruto had to rely on his sage senses.

Once the mist cleared enough for him to sense through the thick chakra mist, he immediately raised his guard up as he saw that Ashura had created many hundreds of smaller Rasengans he hid inside his 'Big Ball Rasengan'. What happened was another huge explosion of chakra that cracked the mountains due to the sheer pressure that was generated.

When the chakra dissipated and the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto in his Kurama avatar, saving him from Ashura's version of the 'Rasengan Barrage'.

Ashura was floating level with Naruto with wind violently circling his form staring down Naruto.

Ashura then said, "If I followed your naming sense of that technique, then I'd call it the 'Rasengan Bombardment'!" he named playfully.

Naruto smiled at the guy's personality. He really knew how to have fun no matter what! But, he steeled his resolve and with Kurama prepared another attack.

"Kurama! Let's show Ashura what we're made of!" Naruto riled him up.

"Got your back Kit!" Kurama answered back.

They both began forming the strongest Tailed Beast Bomb they could, with Naruto adding Senjutsu and Six Paths chakra to it and his Wind nature.

Ashura looked in anticipation but didn't flinch. However, he slowly pressed his palms together in preparation for the upcoming attack.

Naruto then announced, "Wind Style: Tailed Beast Rasen Shuriken!"

The duo launched their attack at for what most others would see as the speed of sound.

However, Ashura didn't even show fear, instead he smirked and suddenly, a giant Buddha statue with a thousand arms made entirely out of wood popped out of the ground, easily dwarfing Kurama in size. What happened next, the wooden construct simply batted the Tailed Beast Rasen Shuriken aside like it was nothing, it exploded in the distance.

Naruto was in awe at his ancestor's battle prowess. The guy wasn't as strong as Kaguya, or Madara. But that didn't mean the man himself wasn't easier, in fact, this guy was the toughest opponent he had ever faced! But he still didn't give up, he wasn't going to let the chance to obtain the chance at instilling peace for good! He was going to prove that he was willing to fight to the end for that cause.

Therefore, Naruto created to shadow clones with their own Kurama avatar and had them marge into one three-faced foxed construct like he did against Sasuke in their last battle. He then formed a two massive Rasenshurikens; one of lava and one of magnet. He tossed it towards Ashura again and he attempted to do the same thing with the Tailed Beast Bomb, but to his shock, it sliced through the wooden arms that tried to stop it.

Also, the Magnet Release: Rasen Shuriken had Shukaku's curse seal on it, effective nullifying Ashura's movement along with his wooden statue, which was reduced in size due to the attack. Naruto and Kurama then using all nine tails, began to form his strongest technique; The nine beast Rasen Shurikens. Once they were formed, they launched towards Ashura who was now sweating. It got closer and closer and it looked like it was over. But, Ashura wasn't the progenitor of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans for nothing, he quickly already shrugged off Shukaku's curse seals thorugh his sheer quantity of chakra and his quick analysis of finding a counter seal he made by molding the chakra in him to speed up the process.

He used what was left of his Wooden Buddha statue to create a dome in front of himself and it effective stopped all the nine spheres with its hands. Then he chucked it back at Naruto who ended up in the explosion.

After that, Ashura let out a breath, he hadn't fought a battle like that in a while and he was really pushed by Naruto. When he thought he had won and was going to tell Naruto his verdict.

He was suddenly slammed front behind by a massive golden Rasengan wielded by a Naruto who was still in his Chakra cloak due to the natural energy he gathered earlier. Ashura was shocked, he thought.

'How is he still fighting!? Better yet, how did he get behind me!? Then it clicked.

The first Tailed Beast Rasen Shuriken didn't just use his Six Paths Chakra to strengthen it. But also, to mask his chakra signal. To think that seeing Ashura's 'Rasengan Bombardment' once inspired him to put himself inside a Rasen Shuriken. He truly is the most unpredictable of his reincarnates.

After Naruto blew Ashura away, he summoned Kurama again. In response, Ashura pulled all the stops and summoned his three-head buddha chakra construct the same size as Kurama and was gold in colour. In all six of its arms, they wielded giant truth seeker orbs ready to slam into Naruto and Kurama.

Facing each other off one last time, Naruto and Kurama formed one last Tailed Beast Rasen Shuriken with all the power they could muster and the five elements plus Yang release to create a super powered pseudo-Truth Seeker orb. Whereas, Ashura combined all of his Truth-seeker orbs into one large mass, effectively turning it into a Ten-tailed Beast bomb.

They chased towards each other and slammed their respective techniques against each other. This created a black dome around them that could be since from the moon if they were in the real world that is.

Once it disappeared, the two could be seen kneeling before each other. Naruto was exhausted of almost all his chakra and Ashura was looking only a little better as he could still stand up, albeit shakingly.

He then spoke, "I gotta hand it to you, you really do know your way around a fight! I could feel your determination to win and even when I dwarfed your powers, you didn't give up and found a way to attack me!" he complimented Naruto.

Naruto beamed at the praise "Thanks! You weren't bad yourself! Damn Ashura, I wish I could spar like this with you all the time, tebayo! I could learn some things from you so I can better protect the peace!" he said. Ashura smiled at his reasons for getting stronger. Then he approached Naruto who looked at him expectantly.

"Naruto, I'm glad I got to meet you! I can definitely say that my father's dream has come true due to you!" he told him. Naruto smiled.

"As a show of trust and gratitude, I'm going to give you everything I have to help you on your journey to peace!" Ashura stated. He raised his right palm which held a white sun mark and pressed it against Naruto's chest.

Naruto felt all his chakra come back, but even more vitalised than ever and his chakra reserves on his own now rivalled a Tailed Beast's own. Also, he felt all of Ashura's knowledge pass onto him and he swore that he has never been so knowledgeable about Fuinjutsu and Ninshu. It even became easier to mould chakra without hand-signs.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he looked at Ashura who grinned much like Naruto does.

"You like it!?" he exclaimed, Naruto just nodded furiously.

"Hell yeah! I never felt so energized, I can wait to see how hard I can train now!" Naruto exclaimed grinning. Ashura was pleased to know that he still desired to become stronger.

Then Naruto noticed that his right arm was back. He looked at the palm and saw the white sun mark before it faded away due to not channelling chakra into it. Ashura said, "Well if you're going to achieve peace then you're going to need both hands".

Naruto thanked him a lot. Ashura and he began joking around a bit. Until someone boobed Ashura on the head.

"Ashura! Look at what you have done! You blew up the pocket dimension again" a familiar female voice said. Naruto looked up and saw!

"Hi-Hinata!? What are you doing here!? Better yet, how do you know Ashura!?" he questioned 'Hinata' who was wearing a large white baggy robe that resembled Miko clothing. She looked at Naruto strangely before bursting out giggling as well as Ashura. Naruto looked annoyed.

"Sorry! Sorry! I don't blame you, but that's not your girlfriend Hinata!" Ashura said making Naruto blush at the last comment.

"T-then who is she!?" Naruto asked. The 'Hinata' lookalike then looked at him and introduced herself.

"Hello Naruto-san, my name is Otsutsuki Hanako. Only daughter of Otsutsuki Hamura, not as often talked about, but I'm one of his children and I gave birth to the Hyuga and Kaguya clans." She informed Naruto who was wide-eyed from the revelation.

"Cool! You mean Hinata comes from the same family as Super Gramps and his equally ancient brother!?" earning him the most menacing 'Hyuga' glare from Hanako.

"You will not disrespect my father! He may be old, but he is still great!" Hanako scolded Naruto only to be tamed by Ashura.

"It's okay, Hanako, he was only giving them a playful address." Ashura comforted her.

"Thank you, Ashura, I guess I did get a little worked up, sorry Naruto" Hanako apologised. She then gave Ashura a peck on the cheek, which irked Naruto. Even if she technically wasn't Hinata, seeing someone who looked just like her be intimate with someone else, even if it was his ancestor, just made him depressed.

"Okay, if I may continue! I am the progenitor of both the Hyuga and the Kaguya." Hanako continued and Naruto nodded.

"Those clans were very different from the rest, as they didn't get their chakra from the Sage of Six Paths, Uncle Hagoromo, but received it from Hamura through me." She stated and Naruto was very interested. He then asked.

"Hey, your chakra is exactly like Hinata's when she used her Twin Lion Fist against me earlier today. How is that?" Naruto asked and Hanako quickly found herself seeing why Hinata loves this boy.

"Well, that Hinata girl looks just like me, so it stands to reason that she's eventually awaken my chakra!" she said, but Naruto was still confused. So, Ashura took point.

"Basically, Hinata is like you! You're my reincarnation and Hinata is Hanako's reincarnation." Ashura put simply and Naruto was slack jawed.

"Wow! You mean, Hinata is also a descendant of the Otsutsuki family! Whoa! I knew she was amazing, but to believe that we are so similar! I can't wait to tell her, tebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. Ashura and Hanako smiled at his fondness for the lavender-haired descendant.

"So, that chakra of hers, it felt like Super Gramps' chakra, but more on the caring and alien side." Naruto tried to describe but Hanako understood.

"Well, my father Hamura like Uncle, was born with chakra and he inherited more of our Grandmother's white eyes and spiritual chakra than uncle ever did. Since, my father lived on the moon, he didn't have to share his chakra with others, meaning I inherited all of his powers. Though, I only awakened the chakra through hard-work and determination as Ashura inspired me to do unlike my brother who had everything from birth." Hanako explained.

"Wait, Hamura lived on the moon, then how did the Hyuga clan end up on Earth?" Naruto asked.

Hanako began to blush like Hinata before telling her story, "Well you see, on the moon, there is actually an entire world just like yours; trees, water, flora and fauna. Oh, let's not forget the artificial sun my father made with a castle in it!" she told Naruto who was shocked that people lived on the moon.

She continued, "Anyway, life was good and all, but it just wasn't home, no matter how comfortable it was. So, one day, we visited the Earth to see Uncle Hagoromo and his sons. I first meet Uncle and he was a very caring man who I enjoyed spending time with, but he was a little stiff. Then I meet Indra, who to be honest, I didn't really like, he was so dark and scary to be honest even if the others found him charming. But enough about him, eventually I found a few flowers that I was enjoying the sight of as they are rare on the moon and then I met Ashura, who was tending to the flowers. We greeted each other and started to get to know each other. The more I learnt about Ashura, the more infatuated I became with him. But, we were cousins, so I held it back. He was just so inspiring and hard-working that you just did the same. I liked my time with Ashura so much, I told my father I would stay on the Earth which he agreed to quite easily." Hanako said before taking a sadder look.

"However, as time moved on and things happened between Indra and Ashura. They both got married and had children. I was upset that Ashura found a wife, but we were cousins, it wasn't looked upon in high regards. But I was happy for him and that was all that mattered. Eventually, I found myself a husband as well who was quite charming, but was never really had my heart. Despite that, I gave birth to two children, each started the Hyuga and the Kaguya clans respectively. The Hyuga child, believed in keeping the blood pure, so he found a wife whose chakra was very ordinary, but she was of royalty which is how the Hyuga clan became so esteemed and wealthy. The Kaguya clan, didn't really see a problem with preferences so they became a more civilised clan." She explained the origins of her descendants, with Naruto growing more interested in Hinata's ancestor's linage.

Hanako continued, "Although, my Kaguya descendants have all but passed during the years, the Hyuga remain strong in numbers, but they are stuck in their ways!" she said in disgust.

"Anyway, as time went by, not many of my descendants showed the potential to awaken my chakra as they many of the Hyuga believe that feelings are a weaken, but being driven by feelings of love and having an unstoppable determination is key in awakening it, which I'm glad to say, Hinata has!" Hanako said. Naruto was excited for Hinata, he couldn't wait to see how strong she became.

"Also, I'm going to show you the power that my father once awakened…" Hanako closed her eyes and poured chakra into it. Veins bulged around her eyes and when she opened them, instead of seeing a Byakugan activated, Naruto saw a dark purple eye, with a glowing white and silver lotus flower pattern that dilated slowly.

"Whoa! What is that dojutsu!? That's not a Byakugan, tebayo!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Hanako smiled at his enthusiasm.

"This the Tenseigan! The next form of the Byakugan." Hanako told him. Naruto was shocked.

"Wait! You mean the Byakugan has an evolution like the Sharingan!? How come it's never been achieved before!?" Naruto asked.

Hanako told him, "The key to awakening my chakra is to be of a loving and caring heart whilst having the determination to keep moving forward. Which only Hinata has ever shown. Another way is to simply have an Otsutsuki's chakra and take a pair of Byakugan eyes."

Naruto was curious "So what can this Dojutsu do?"

Hanako smiled and said "Well, the Tenseigan improves upon the already unrivalled visual prowess including range, attention to details and other things. The Tenseigan however, is a huge improvement, it allows the user control of gravitational forces, the affinity of all five elemental releases as well as Yin-Yang release, a chakra cloak much like yours for a boost in strength and the ability to fly, a set of Truth-seeking Orbs and finally, the ability to recreate planets." Naruto was in awe at such an amazing dojutsu.

"Yes, I know what you are thinking, Hinata is indeed capable of awakening the Tenseigan, in fact that where you come in" she told him and Naruto listened closely.

"I'm going to give you this necklace, it has my chakra in it as well as my soul. I need you to give this to Hinata so I can talk to her and maybe awaken her Tenseigan. Then you'll have a perfect partner both for spars and in bed!" Hanako teased and Naruto blushed.

Naruto received the necklace from Hanako and decided to ask her one thing.

"Why are you doing this again? I know she's your reincarnation, but what reason do you have to do this?" he asked.

Hanako reasoned "Just like Ashura did for you, I wanted to entrust the future to her as well. Also, she'll need it if you two decide to go to the moon for more I had left behind there." Naruto accepted this.

"Okay, it was nice getting to know my ancestor and my girlfriend-in-secret's. Thanks for your help and I'm really glad I met you two. Well, goodbye and say Hi to pervy sage, Neji and my parents once you guys disappear." Naruto exclaimed.

Ashura smiled, "That, we will" he said and Hanako smiled warmly much like Hinata. Before Naruto disappeared from the spiritual world.

 **Back in reality.**

Naruto was standing right where he was. He inspected himself and saw that his right arm was back. He channelled some chakra into his new right arm and saw the white sun mark, telling him that he has indeed received Ashura's gift.

Also, he felt in his pocket and pulled out the necklace Hanako gave him before putting it back.

Suddenly, he saw a memory of the secret vault's location. He then went back to the statue of Ashura and removed the necklace. He then smeared his blood on the Uzumaki symbol that was hidden behind the Magatama. This in effect, made the stature move backwards towards the throne, making it look like Ashura once sat there, this revealed a set of steps towards a surprisingly clean metal vault. Naruto poured his chakra into it making it open and found all the Uzumaki Clan's knowledge which he sealed into the seals on his cape and on into his chakra even due to the new Fuinjutsu knowledge he acquired from Ashura's own memories. But what stood out the most was Ashura's arsenal; many sets of swords and his once famed Bansho fan he used a long time ago. Naruto quickly, yet carefully sealed all of it on in his sealing scrolls and cape before heading back to the top.

He had much to tell Hinata.

* * *

 **Omake:** **The Kage Bunshin song (A suicidal parody)**

 **Naruto was singing a song about the hardship his clones go through that he decided to sing about to Hinata during one of their nights.**

 **(Song starts)**

 _ **Kage Bunshin!**_

 _ **They always do all the work~**_

 _ **They can get suicidal~, suicidal~**_

 _ **When they say Daibakuhaku!**_

 _ **Kage Bunshin!**_

 _ **They're the secret to beating paperwork~**_

 _ **Which made me go suicidal~, suicidal~**_

 ** _When it was not over!_**

 ** _(Song end)_**

 **Hinata was laughing at the parody of the song Naruto made and was shocked that Naruto could sing.**

* * *

 **Omake 2: Hanako's other intention**

 **"Hey Hanako!" Ashura called her name.**

 **"Hm!?" Hanako responded.**

 **"Well, I was using Ninshu and heard that your didn't tell Naruto your full reasoning behind giving your reincarnation you necklace, what are you planning?" Ashura asked.**

 **Hanako smiled perversely "Well, I wanted to help her, but I also wanted to help myself to her, I wouldn't mind having some playtime with my reincarnation in my necklaces mindscape" she admitted.**

 **Ashura was nose bleeding at the thought of two Hanako's feeling each other up.**

 **"Ha-h-Hanako! You aren't serious are you!?" he questioned.**

 **Hanako smiled, "I am! Maybe I'll ask your descendant to join us during our mindscape 'session'"**

 **Ashura paled. He for some reason really admired his reincarnation now.**

 **'Luckly bastard!' he thought.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **I'm back with another chapter of Path of the Sage, this chapter will be a bit more on both the playful side and political side.**

 **Also, I'm a fan of xhinalovex's intense fanfiction 'Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations', so when I heard that the author was diagnosed with cancer. I thought damn, please get better soon. But I thought as a tribute to her, I decided to include a special guest character from her fanfic, sorry for not asking for permission, but I search up on the fannon about the Akiyama clan, and guess what I found one. So I thought I'd base mine more on how sealing clans are more common than you'd believe, I mean look at Tenten's business, she is bound to have competitors.**

 **So sorry and thanks to xHinalovex for the inspiration, but I see this as my way of respecting your story.**

 **Anyway, I have gotten some good reviews lately and I'm touched really! I never thought my story would be considered a good read and I like that my planning skills are heading in the right direction. So please continue giving me your support as I write this.**

 **Also, I'm planning on writing another fanfiction a while I'm not writing this one, about what if Naruto had an older brother who looked just like him but born around the same time as Itachi. But had to leave due to Danzo.**

 **This chapter has a bit more bull crap than the last few and definitely more on the serious side.**

 **Anyway enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Same old us, just better!**

 **Naruto's POV**

'I can't wait to tell Hina-chan about what just happened! Boy to believe she is a reincarnation of an actual Angel!" Naruto excitedly thought.

'Not only that, the new things I have learnt and stuff I can try out when we get back! And I can finally have a sparring partner during training! Hina-chan just keeps getting better!' he continued with thoughts like that until he was directly under the whirlpool exit/entry.

Using his new mastery of the forces of nature that he works with, he manipulated the chakra within the water to widen the whirlpool whilst he used his wind chakra to propel himself upwards towards the sky.

 **Hinata's POV**

An hour had passed since Naruto had descended into the whirlpool, despite her belief in her Naru-kun's words she couldn't help but worry that something might have happened.

Walking to the edge and looking down towards the whirlpool to contemplate wither to jump in or not. She was met with a speeding blond and black blur that slowed down into to reveal that it was Naruto.

For her, it seemed to last for an eternity when they were looking into each other's eyes and she saw how surreal Naruto looked with his hair gleaming in the sun as it was slightly damp and how the droplets just span off his body.

Then Naruto came to a complete stop, with a tornado of wind around his lower half to keep him floating mid-air and he gently landed in front of me with a big smile.

I tackled him into a tight hug.

 **Third person**

The two could be seen in a tight embrace just enjoying the comfort of one's warmth and presence. Karin was thinking about making another interruption, but decided that this was too tender of a moment for her to step in so she allowed it.

Hinata withdrew herself a bit from Naruto to look at his smiling face, which she noticed was much more radiant than usual, his hair with a new shine that put the Sun at its best to shame and his eyes though still resembling a moisanite gem, they glowed with a light that could light up the world.

Overall, Naruto seemed like the best time of the morning sky put into a person, just made that much better.

Naruto then took both her hands and put them together. His eyes now had a mischievous gleam as if he was expecting her to notice something...

"OH MY GOD NARU-KUN! YOUR RIGHT ARM IS BACK! HOW!? WHAT DID YOU DO DOWN THERE!?" Hinata yelled reminding Naruto just how loud she could be.

'I forgot that she could be that loud… And you'd think I'd remember her embarrassment when I saw her naked again.' Naruto beat himself up.

"That's right Hina-chan! I got my arm back, now I can hold you with both my hands!" he exclaimed as he picked her up by the wasit and spun her around making her laugh like an innocent child.

Karin, smiled at this scene. But memories of her mother before she died came back so she finally decided to announce that she was still there.

"Alright Bro! Welcome back from the dead! Now tell us what was down there!" Karin asked rather loudly. Naruto finally settled Hinata down and he looked at them both.

"Well, it turns out the chakra disruption was actually a way of getting my attention." Naruto told them simply. Karin gave an annoyed look whilst Hinata tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What the fuck man! Is that all you have to tell us! Some lonely fuck wanted you to screw him or something!? Nothing important!?" Karin questioned with profanity making Hinata cringe at the language she was using.

"Calm down Karin-neechan. I was getting to that… Anyway, it turns out since I learnt Ninshu, my ancestor, Otsutsuki Ashura wanted to meet me and test my resolve before he deemed me worthy at working towards the peace." Naruto informed them.

Hinata asked "Ashura? Who is that?", Karin nodded to say that she had the same question.

Naruto answered, "The younger son of the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans".

Hinata and Karin were both astonished to learn that Naruto met his ancestor who was a child of the Great Sage himself.

"He made me fight him and I impressed him. So, he gave me all the clan's knowledge that was never recorded in its records and reawakened my full Six Paths Sage mode, this time, I keep it for good, tebayo!" Naruto excitedly informed, Karin was amazed his discovery and Hinata was happy to know that Naruto was stronger than ever.

"Yeah! Oh! He even let me know where the clan's secret vault is with the Uzumaki clan's knowledge and it had all his old gear! Check this out!" Naruto exclaimed and showed off the Bansho fan he got impressing the girls with his find.

"That is amazing Naru-kun!" Hinata said. Karin, however, kept analysing the fan for a while before saying.

"Yep! It's in perfect condition Bro. It seems to have its own self-preservation seal plus a repair seal. And it should work well with your Wind element." Karin told Naruto.

He kept grinning and put it back before shouting let's head back.

 **Back to the shore**

Whilst on the way back to the shore, Naruto summon all the scrolls and artefacts he had collected from the vault. Naruto was more than happy to let her have her share of the Clan's secret knowledge, Karin took only the ones that Naruto already knew by heart and the medical seals, which Naruto made copies of in his duplication seal he keeps in his storage seals. The rest she let Naruto keep as she didn't have an interest in other stuff, not even one of Ashura's old swords reasoning that they are meant for him.

As they made the exchange, Naruto suddenly remembered something important.

"AH! Hina-chan! I have something for you!" Naruto said and he pulled out a Sun and moon pendant that he got from Hanako earlier.

Hinata was stunned by the offer.

"N-Naru-kun! I can't that looks very important to your Clan and very valuable too! I can't accept this!" Hinata tried to decline, but Naruto stopped her with the next line.

"Hina-chan, this doesn't belong to Karin-neechan's and my clan, this actually belongs to your clan." Naruto told her.

"This beautiful pendant b-belongs to my clan?" Hinata was stunned that something like this was kept at the Uzumaki clan rather than the Hyuga clan compound.

"Yeah! Well, more like the one who started the Hyuga clan… Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you, the one who gave me this was your ancestor!" Naruto told her.

Hinata looked at him in shock learning that information and became curious.

"M-my ancestor?" Hinata asked hesistantly.

"Yeah! Otsutsuki Hanako, the daughter of Otsutsuki Hamura! The Sage's younger brother's daughter! She looks exactly like you, dattebayo!" Naruto told her.

"Really!? She's my ancestor!? And this is her gift to me?" Hinata questioned.

Naruto nodded madly, "Mmhm! Yup! She said that you started to awaken her chakra! Better yet, she wants to meet you through this necklace! It has her soul in it! And did I mention that you are a reincarnation of a real angel! Naruto exclaimed and Hinata blushed.

"M-me an angel! I'm not anything like that!" Hinata argued.

"It's true, I always thought you were out of this world and it turns out I'm right! Hanako told me she came from the moon!" Naruto said. Hinata on the other hand was shocked.

"My ancestor l-l-lived on the moon?" Hinata asked. Naruto verified it. Karin became interested in Hinata's linage.

"Yeah, but she found it gloomy and moved here because of Ashura, my ancestor because just like you, she fell in love with him!" Naruto said. Hinata blushed and said.

"Wow! I didn't think that my ancestor fell in love with yours." Hinata said.

Naruto smiled sadly. "Yeah! But she wasn't as lucky as us. They were cousins." Hinata looked at Naruto in fear.

"Wait! Our ancestors were family!?" Naruto waved off her fears.

"Nah, they were! Not us! Not yet!" Naruto said confidently for the infinite time making her blush furiously.

"Anyway, she fell in love with my ancestor Ashura, but as cousins, marriage between family members wasn't look upon too highly even back then. So, she settled for wanting Ashura to be happy with another woman and she eventually married another man who she could live with, even if he didn't have her heart. As long Ashura was happy, she was okay. But now that time has passed, they are both together now in world I met them in! So, everything worked out!" Naruto narrated and Hinata was smiling that their ancestors in the end after death, found each other. Even Karin was thinking that it should be a movie.

"Also, Hanako, wants to awaken your chakra to evolve your Byakugan to its next stage!" Naruto exclaimed and this was the biggest shock of all.

"The Byakugan has another form!?" Karin questioned.

Hinata likewise also did, but quieter "Naru-kun, I never heard of the Byakugan having another form, so what is it?" she asked.

Naruto smiled, "The Tenseigan, I won't tell you what it can do, I'll leave that to Hanako, but I can tell you that it is awesome!" he claimed. Hinata giggled, then took a deep breath.

"Okay Naru-kun, I'll accept her pendant so I can meet her, but can you join too." Hinata requested, Naruto nodded.

"I can't see why not!" Naruto said and placed the pendant around her neck.

It shone a bright violet and white light before enveloping the entire area.

 **Hinata's mindscape**

Hinata and Naruto were holding each other and looked around before looking back at one another. They saw that the mindscape was the beginning of spring where plants start growing through the snow.

Suddenly, a familiar voice fills the area.

"Well, hello there Hinata, my descendant, I must say you have grown to be very beautiful. Oh, and hello again Naruto" Hanako greeted.

Naruto was about to say something, but saw Hinata run towards Hanako with tears in her eyes and hug her.

"Mother!" Hinata exclaimed in happiness, shocking Naruto with her words and making Hanako smile sadly at Hinata. She pets her head.

"I'm sorry dear." Hanako makes Hinata look at her, "but I must disappoint you, that I am not your mother, but rather your ancestor, Otsutsuki Hanako, your mother Hyuga Hikari was my last closest descendant" she told her. Hinata wiped her tears and apologised for the outburst. But Hanako did something unexpected.

"But, I don't mind being a mother again for you, my child, I always wanted a girl, but ended up with two boys. Plus, I always wanted to play with a girl if I had one!" Hanako told Hinata making her cry tears of joy.

"Thank you Hanako-sa…" Hinata tried to speak, only to be cut off.

"Call me mother, I may not be your real mother, but I can be a mother figure for you at least." Hanako offered with a hidden excitement in her eyes. Hinata's eyes struggled to contain her tears of joy and just hugged Hanako, her new mother figure even more tightly.

"Okay! Mother!" Hinata replied. Hanako hugged back in a motherly fashion making Naruto smile and reminisce about the time he hugged his own mother like that when he first met Kushina.

After a few minutes of that tender moment. Hanako and Hinata eventually relinquished their embrace of each other to discuss the purpose of this visit.

"Now my dear, I'm going to discuss with you what I wanted to see you for. From the top, I'm going to make the chakra blooming within recently, reach its full maturity before we even consider any training." Hanako informed her.

Hinata tilted her head and asked, "Y-y-you can do that for me? But why?" Hanako smiled.

Hanako replied "You Hinata, are a beacon of hope and the light of this world as you have proven to those who have doubted you. Unlike many of my descendants who have gone astray from the path of love and family, you still have the heart to love them and call even those born in the darkness your loved ones. Better yet, you seek to unify your clan to once again be a family even if it calls for sacrificing your happiness for many others."

Hinata's heart was touched by Hanako, no her mother's words, her mother, Hyuga Hikari, always said she'd be someone great if she is kind and strives towards her goals. So, for someone who resembles both her and her mother so much to say that to her made her feel like she was talking with her real mother again.

"Thank you, mother for your kind words. I-I won't disappoint you!" Hinata says with conviction.

Hanako chuckles a bit before continuing, "I know you won't! That's why I chose you for what we are going to do soon." She reminded Hinata of her chakra potential.

"Okay! I'm ready for anything you have set for me!" Hinata stated. Hanako in response raised both her hands towards Hinata.

"Hold my hands" she offered with a motherly smile.

Hinata complied and gently took Hanako's hands with her own. To Naruto, it looked like Hinata and Hanako were mirror images touching the reflective walls. To him, he saw the beauty that was reflected off their eyes. What next was surreal; Hanako began to glow a deep purple aura.

Hinata then slowly emitted a similar aura, but a much lighter lavender shade compared to Hanako's. She felt like she was being given the care and love that she had not received from her mother in so many years, she felt warm and tingly in a good way. Hinata felt like she was in her mother's arms once more and felt the will to be able to achieve anything if she puts her heart into it. She felt very strong and sure of herself.

When the process was finished, Hanako instructed Hinata to activate her Byakugan, which she complied. For an instance, there was a little discomfort which was obviously seen from the way Hinata's eyes were twitching and then, a pulse of chakra was emitted from Hinata pushing the unprepared Naruto back by at least 10cm.

After that happened, Hanako asked her to open her eyes. When she did, what appeared was a lavender eye with a white and silver lotus flower pupil dilating at a moderate pace.

Hanako smiled at Hinata's success.

"So, my child, what do you see?" Hanako asked.

Hinata excitedly exclaimed "Everything! I can see individual hair strands, cells, everything! And in even better clarity and range!"

Hanako nodded "That's one of the benefits of the Tenseigan."

Hinata asked "Tenseigan? So, that's the next form of the Byakugan?"

Hanako answered "Yes, but it also allows you to use the forces of gravity at your will, a chakra cloak much like Naruto's with the power of flight, through your new chakra and eyes, a universal understanding of the five-elemental nature releases plus Yin-Yang release and the ability to recreate a planet if destroyed."

Hinata was in awe of the power at her disposal and vowed to herself only to use it when protecting all those she loves. And happy at the thought of flying besides her Naru-kun.

Hinata thanked Hanako "Thank you, Mother, with this I can become even stronger than before and protect all that we've worked towards!" making Hanako smile fondly at her now-daughter figure's answer.

Hanako's smile became a bit perverted making Naruto a little worried but decided not to do anything to ruin the moment.

"Oh! One more thing! Since you aren't technically my daughter, but my descendant, I'm going to give you one last thing that'll please your significant other" Hanako informed Hinata making her blush at the 'significant other' comment.

Before Hinata could ask, Hanako grabbed Hinata's face and claimed her lips with fervour. Making Hinata flush, she was being kissed by her ancestor, her new mother-figure who resembled herself and not only that, her first kiss was claimed by her own ancestor, though part of her was enjoying the kiss, it still shocked her that a girl would kiss her.

Naruto was slack-jawed at the scene, that Hanako lady claimed Hinata, her reincarnation's lips before he did making him a bit jealous, but the scene of seeing two Hinata's kissing made him go into a coma due to the blood that was meant to go to his 'Hokage Tower' instead leaked out of his nose.

Hinata finally gently pushed back her ancestor.

"M-M-Mother!? W-What are you doing!?" Hinata questioned loudly with a red face. Hanako laughed perversely.

"Kukuku, why? Well, I always wanted a daughter so I can teach her many things only an experience woman like me knows, so I thought I'd pass it onto you through body contact" Hanako ended seductively.

Hinata was shocked, but couldn't deny that having a mother to teach her all these things would definitely help her. But still, the girl-on-girl action still made her feel violated, as she grew up in an environment where same sex interactions were frowned upon.

"O-okay… since I'm technically you, then I don't see why not and besides, this is just a mindscape, so nothing actually happened for real right beside the chakra ritual." Hinata stated and Hanako nodded.

"Yes, but back to business, I have given you the means to protect what is precious to you and continue the dream that my father and uncle wanted to make a reality. Also, I'll give you some help with your powers from time to time, but for real world use, you'll have to have Naruto train you in the rest of your abilities." Hanako stated. Hinata nodded and was excited to train with Naruto in things he specialised at, it made her feel an even stronger connection to him.

"Now that is all over, I guess this is goodbye for now" Hanako said.

Hinata was sad that it came to say goodbye, but Hanako reassured her that she can visit her anytime she could, as long as she wore the pendant. After that, both Naruto and Hinata left the pendant's mindscape, leaving Hanako smiling and planning what adventures she and her descendant could have with her boyfriend together.

 **Back in reality**

Naruto and Hinata were back from the mindscape, they were left awed and embarrassed by the experience.

"Oh my god! I can't believe she kissed me Naru-kun! I'm so sorry! Please forgi-"Hinata tried to apologise, only to be silenced by Naruto's lips who possessively claimed hers. Needless to say, Hinata melted into it easily. They separated.

Naruto smiled and told her "Don't worry, I at least got your real lips, so one-zero Naruto! Dattebayo!" he grinned. Hinata giggled at his logic.

Karin was looking at them stupidly but smiled anyway.

'I don't know what the fuck happened, but I'm happy for them.' She thought.

Naruto then asked Hinata.

"So, Hina-chan! Care to show me what you can do now? I bet you can hand my ass on a plate 10 times over, tebayo!" he asked excitedly. Hinata smiled goofily much like Naruto does due to the atmosphere he gave off.

She replied, "I'll show you, but you'll have to teach me how to use my chakra cloak whilst we are at it okay Naru-kun!" as she activated her Tenseigan. Karin was surprised, but simply raised her glasses at the sight.

Naruto smiled in anticipation, "Alright, to start off, turn your Chakra mode on!" as he instructed as he activated his Six Paths Sage mode without the chakra cloak, only the golden eyes with a cross-lit pupil to allow him to fly. He levitated a few meters in the air.

Hinata however, asked, "Um… Naru-kun, how do you activate the chakra cloak?" as this was her first time.

Naruto informed her, "Ah! That, you need to imagine that you are looking inside of yourself, looking for a flame, then you approach it and grab it. That's how I always do it!" he excitedly told her. Hinata understood as it was like meditating the instructions. She did as Naruto said and what took place was a livid transformation.

Hinata's body was enveloped in a lavender flame of chakra resembling Miko clothing. Her hair was a darker shade than the rest, but still looked like a flame, she also acquired a horn made from chakra on her forehead. About nine Truth-seeking orbs floating behind her head in an arc. To finish her new form, there was white chakra seeping from her back as if they were wings making Hinata look like an angel of some sort.

Naruto was taken by her appearance, he looked for a while before saying, "Wow! That looks so cool Hina-chan! Especially the wings, you look like an Angel, tebayo!" he complimented, Hinata would have had a red blush if it wasn't for the chakra covering her body.

Hinata for a few moments relished the feeling of having so much chakra enveloping her entire being. Then, came the next bit; flying.

"Naru-kun! How do you make yourself fly!?" Hinata eagerly asked, as this was something she dreamed of doing a couple of times.

Naruto grinned widely, "Just think about floating and then push chakra into it" he said like it was nothing, nevertheless, Hinata did just that and the advice worked. She was flying! Then she few towards Naruto a bit too fast and ended up hugging him midair in a comical rolling manoeuvrer. Naruto and Hinata were laughing like little kids. Then Naruto commented that he needed to teach her basic flight manoeuvrers, which she just happily agreed and let herself to some free flight lessons.

 **After half an hour**

Hinata, through Naruto's instructions, quickly managed to learn how to fly and found that Naruto had a knack for teaching, most likely due to knowing the mistakes that he has made in the past.

After the dancing in the air a bit, Naruto suggested something.

"Hey, Hina-chan! Now that you have gotten the hang of flying, why don't we race back to Konoha!? Datebayo!" He excitedly suggested.

Hinata was having too much fun with Naruto to even disagree, plus anything to do with competition with Naruto was always exciting!

"Okay Naru-kun, let's race!" Hinata smiled showing her perfect teeth.

Naruto golden sage eyes glowed in amusement. They both got ready, then he started the countdown from three.

Naruto began.

"Three!"

Hinata leaned forward.

"Two" Naruto gathered more natural energy just in case.

"On- wait, my nose itching!" Hinata cracked up at the randomness of his announcement.

"One! GO!" He shouted. They took off. Karin was just looking at where they were headed and said.

"Rude fucks! They didn't even say goodbye!" But she smiled at their playfulness.

'Though, I'm glad I took a scroll about flight seals! I could probably hang out with Naruto Bro when I'm visiting Konoha.' Karin thought.

 **With Naruto and Hinata**

The speeds they were going at were ridiculous, even for someone like Maito Gai opening 7 of the gates! They would be at Konoha in less than half a day! Hinata, proved herself a fast learner as due to her naturally better chakra control, she figured out how to adjust her speed quickly, she was a good 100 metres ahead of Naruto. Naruto was just smiling at the challenge, he then decided to enter his chakra cloak, but instead he was dragged into his mindscape.

 **Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto was looking around for Kurama to see what was wrong. But what he saw surprised him.

"Eh!? Kurama!? The Yin-half is back!?" Naruto exclaimed.

Both Kurama's chuckled at his reaction.

Yin-Kurama spoke, "Of course I am Kit! Ashura's chakra was very vitalising, it even completely restored my chakra! So, I'm willing to give you a hand anytime!"

Yang-Kurama said next, "Yeah, plus, you no longer need us to access your Six Paths abilities. Ashura completely awakened your chakra, so the Truth-seeker Orbs can be taken out without us having to give you a Pseudo Ten-tails cloak to do that." Naruto had stars in his eyes, he could use his Six Path powers separately from his Tailed Beast chakras. That would save a lot more chakra.

"Also, Kit, with both of us awake now, you can now use both Yin, or Yang release and Yin-Yang release. Plus, since you have all five affinities, you can possibly recreate your own Truth-seeker Orbs and make actual clones instead of shadow clones." Yang-Kurama finished. Naruto nodded excitedly with a huge grin plastered to his face, he couldn't wait to see what he could experiment with now that he had all the powers from his ancestor at his disposal.

Naruto then continued to get what he came for.

"Anyway, guys, can you make me go Kurama mode for a while, I have a race to win against Hina-chan!" he requested. Both Kurama's smiled.

Yin-Kurama said "Alright, that Vixen of yours is something, and that's not because she is a descendant of the Moon's Angel" Naruto saved that question for later, so he nodded.

Yang-Kurama went next, "Yeah, that girl with her Tenseigan is about as powerful as Obito was as a Ten-tails Jinchuriki. You'll need our help to match up." He said.

Both the Kurama's fist bumped each other and both offered their free fist towards Naruto. Naruto got the idea, he fist-bumped both of them getting a surge of chakra like never before.

 **Reality**

Naruto's appearance took on a new Orange hue, with the Six Paths senjutsu eyes remaining the same colour before boosting off in Hinata's direction quickly being by her side. He now had the full Kurama chakra cloak, which was 5 times stronger than the one he used in the war.

Hinata looked to her left and was pleasantly surprised that Naruto had caught up so quickly and used his Kyubi chakra. With the Tenseigan, she was able to see all kinds of chakra, in Naruto, she could see that he had every type of chakra in him you could name.

Naruto shot her a winning smile before he shouted, "Let's switch things up a little!" Hinata was a bit confused until Naruto launch a low-powered Rasen Shuriken towards her making her barrel roll to dodge it.

Hinata was flabbergasted at what he was insisting, but seeing that the attack he used wouldn't cause any damage to her, she decided to play his game.

She fought back with what was supposed to be an 'Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm". But what had happened was a huge amount pressure being directed towards Naruto, who was pushed back quite a bit.

Naruto was thinking, 'That felt like I was being hit with Pain's Shinra Tensei, if it wasn't for the power ups, I would have been in the ground!' Happy to know that Hinata could give him a run for his money… both in a fight and finances.

Naruto used more chakra to propel himself like a bullet to slightly edge out Hinata in the race whilst he chucked more low-powered Rasen Shurikens like completely normal shuriken. Hinata was having the time of her life dodging and weaving through the air, sure the attacks weren't hitting her, but left her no room to counter attack.

However, Naruto had something else in store for her, he used a Wind Style Jutsu: Great Breakthrough enhanced greatly by both his Six Paths mode and Kurama Chakra to slow Hinata down for about 10 seconds; how long the gust of wind lasted.

Naruto took off, thinking he had won their little race. However, Hinata was smiling deviously, she saw in one of Hanako's visions about how the Truth-seeker Orbs could be used and willed one in front of her. She channelled her chakra into it whilst forming a spinning bullet in her mind and released the chakra.

"Silver Wheel Carnation: Rebirth Explosion!" she exclaimed.

Naruto heard the new technique's name and sensed the attack was coming. As he was now, the attack wouldn't do any harm, but it would knock him off course if it did, we it did because the golden beam bullet Hinata shot was faster than he had anticipated. He was spinning uncontrollably through the air and heard Hinata whizz by.

Naruto, during his leading advantage, saw the Hokage mountain from a far, making him marvel at the speed they were going at if they were almost there already. Also, he created a chakra arm to grab onto Hinata dragging him along, unfortunately it didn't stop Naruto's face smashing into countless trees as he struggled to let the Chakra arm pull him towards Hinata.

Hinata could feel Naruto's chakra arm latched onto her. She tried to shake him off, but he kept getting closer and closer. Then, he finally closed the distance and hugged her mid-air tackling her down into the forest of Konoha a good way off from the village.

The two rolled with each other before coming to a stop in an area full of wild flowers and a spring with a waterfall. Hinata was on top of Naruto who was smiling at her brightly breathing a little heavily as she was too.

"Looks like I win Naru-kun!" she stated. Naruto fake pouted.

"Yeah, yeah! Beginner's luck!" he shot back making her giggle.

"Don't be like that Naru-kun! Just because I won!" she teased.

Naruto grinned mischievously, "Oh really now!?" making her confused. Until Naruto started attacking her sensitive part; she was being tickled to death. She was laughing uncontrollably rolled off Naruto hoping to escape, but he was just so damn persistent.

"Naru-kun! Stop please! Hehehe!" Hinata pleaded. Naruto made a demand.

"Only if you accept defeat!" Naruto exclaimed dramatically.

Hinata however protested, "No way! I'll never surrender" but this edge Naruto to keep tickling her, eventually Hinata gave in.

"Please no more! I lost! I lost! You win!" Hinata said. Naruto grinned widely.

"Just what I wanted to hear! But for the record, that was fun, that was amazing for your first time flying, tebayo!" Naruto complimented. Hinata smiled genuinely, and they both got up.

The two of them decided to turn off their respective chakra cloaks, with Naruto demonstrating and instructing how to do so first and returned to normal like it was nothing. Hinata then followed suit, but ended up collapsing forward due to suddenly feeling the chakra that she had used taking its toll. Naruto quickly caught her and steadied her on her feet.

"Yeah! I forgot to mention that for people with lower chakra reserves, the cloak will leave you feeling drained since your body isn't used to having so much chakra at once then the next its gone. We'll take it easy from here, that okay Hina-chan?" Naruto informed and offered. Hinata weakly smiled before falling asleep. Naruto seeing this picked her up bridal style and started walking the last 3 hours towards Konoha's gates, occasionally shooting glances towards Hinata's peaceful face and one kiss to her forehead lovingly.

 **Slightly past 3 hours later**

Izumo and Kotetsu were both bored as one can be hoping for something exciting to happen. Everybody thinks they gay for each other, so they all thought 'Why not have each other for fun?'

Of course, this wasn't going to happen anytime soon, unless they got that desperate. However, one of them saw two figures, they informed each other of what they saw and both looked on. They saw something that made them feel pretty happy.

A grinning Naruto, carrying a sleeping Hinata in his arms… wait arms!

'When did he get his right arm back!' Izumo and Kotetsu thought in shock.

But, that didn't make them stop hooting for Naruto for holding the Hyuga Heiress in such a way. Seeing as everyone was rooting for both of them to get together and they were the first ones to witness it. When Naruto came close enough, Kotetsu asked.

"Hey Naruto! Did you and the Hyuga Princess finally get together?" he asked curiously with Izumo listening intently.

Naruto grinned widely with a faint blush on his face, "Well… you can say that!" he proudly exclaimed.

Kotetsu and Izumo were excited at the revelation, the two finally got together and asked how it happened and everything. But Naruto dismissed them saying that he had to get Hinata to the hospital and report to Kakashi-sensei. With that, Naruto did a shunshin leaving the two behind, bored.

 **Walking past Yamanaka's Flowers**

Ino was just finished serving a man who was buying flowers for someone as they wanted to express their feelings to someone they liked and sent them off with a smile. That was the last customer for the day, she knew that no one was going to come by and thought she could walk around the store a bit. Until, she saw Naruto walking down the street with Hinata in his arms. As a gossip, she struck gold and using her ninja skills, followed them out the door and looked on with stars in her eyes.

Apparently, it wasn't just her who was awed by the sight. She looked around and saw a few older couples and some other people look on and 'aww'd' at the sight. There were comments like 'The Boy finally noticed the Hyuga Heiress' and 'They make a wonderful pair!'.

Ino had to agree, they looked so cute together. Then, she noticed that Sakura was right next to her crying tears of joy at the sight before saying, "They really are meant for each other".

Then the two banshees began squealing and hugging one another to death due to happiness overload.

But then something clicked, Ino asked Sakura, "Wait! Did you notice he was holding Hinata with both arms?" Making Sakura's eyes widen.

They decided to hunt the two down for answers.

 **With Naruto and Hinata**

Naruto was carrying the still sleeping Hinata in his arms. He tried to ignore the couple comments and the fawning over the action. But he couldn't help but have a slight blush due to the attention sent his way. It got even worse when Hinata shuffled a bit into him making the crowd squeal even louder, so Naruto having enough of the attention decided to walk faster leaving a murmuring crowd of people behind.

As Naruto got closer to Konoha's hospital, he sighed in relief hoping he could drop Hinata off and report back to Kakashi-sensei as soon as possible. Once he managed to book a room for Hinata to rest in and have a nurse take care of her whilst avoiding the sly look the counter lady sent him, he stroked Hinata's hair out of the way and kissed her forehead before heading to the Hokage's office to report to Kakashi.

Unfortunately, as he made his way outside, he was stopped by Sakura and Ino who had many questions for him.

Sakura went first, "Naruto! What were you doing with Hinata!?" she asked. Naruto sent her a look that said, 'It was obvious' making Sakura fume in embarrassment at the question.

Ino went next, "Did you two get together on your mission!? If so, when did it happen?" she asked loudly. Naruto still felt uncomfortable with letting the others know about their relationship, but gave in and admitted it.

"We got together the night before our mission, but wanted to keep it a secret because you know!? Her family's elders and what not. They still don't really like me as much as her Dad and the younger guys."

Sakura and Ino were quite dumbfounded that they got together before they went to Uzushiogakure, but promised to keep it a secret as they both knew as well that The Elders in the Hyuga Clan were still stuck in their traditions.

But Sakura had to ask, "But the Hyuga Clan, including the Elders let people with a good linage, or good reputation marry into their clan, you're the son of the Fourth Hokage and the Hero of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, why wouldn't they let you be with Hinata?"

Naruto took a dark look and said, "It's exactly because of my linage that they don't what me to have anything to do with Hinata. Let's leave it at that. For now, see you girls later, I need to report to Kakashi-sensei!" he finished with a bright smile making the girls wonder if he was Bi-polar and, "What does he mean by his linage is exactly why they don't want him in Hinata's clan?" and comments like that.

 **With Kakashi, Hokage's Office**

Kakashi was sitting comfortably on his seat behind the desk due to the fact he was one of the few people had no paperwork on his desk. Although, he hated the job, he was admittedly good at it, the repairs towards the damage that had occurred during the war were coming along smoothly and he could not wait for all the things to be done just so he could pass his hat off to Naruto.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _When Naruto had heard Kakashi became Hokage, he had expected for Naruto to throw a tantrum, or even a depressed look at not becoming Hokage. However, instead, he saw Naruto was surprised, but happy for him saying that "As much as I want to become Hokage, there are still many things I need to learn as you said. Also, I have another purpose that's just as important and that's to protect the peace we have created! One big family! So, for now, I'll do what I do best and become a better me so I'm ready for whatever comes our way! Dattebayo!" Naruto finished with resolve and a maturity that came from his accelerated rate of learning from his Jounin studies. Kakashi was almost in tears at the man who would one day become Hokage._

' _Sensei… Your son has become a splendid man, much like you… No… He even surpasses the Sage himself' Kakashi thought to himself._

 _ **Flashback end**_

Knocked out of his stupor, he found Naruto in front of his desk with a big smile on his face. Kakashi was shocked that he came back from Uzushiogakure so quickly, hell, he predicted that he and Hinata would take at least a week for the whole journey to be finished. But, he as usual asked Naruto for an update.

"Yo! Naruto, your back early, so did you and Hinata find out what the Chakra disturbance was?" Kakashi asked with his signature eye smile.

Naruto grinned and said, "Sure did! And I'm glad that we went, I found so much about my old clan, I even have some new things to try out with my seals" he excitedly exclaimed making Kakashi feel joy at how happy he was but asked again.

"That's nice Naruto. But back to the important bit, what was the chakra disturbance?" Kakashi asked a bit more seriously this time.

Naruto took a straight face, but still smiling, "Well, you see, with all the things I have been learning lately, most importantly, Ninshu. The Chakra ended up flaring because the guy wanted to meet me." He said like it was nothing. Kakashi however, raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Who would unleash that much chakra just to meet you, one of your fans?" he joked. Naruto laughed at the idea but waved it off.

"Nah, remember the story that Super Sage Gramps told us about his sons?" Kakashi nodded, he continued, "Well, it turns out I fulfilled some certain conditions making it possible for me to meet Otsutsuki Ashura!" Kakashi was shocked that the son of the Sage wanted to meet Naruto. But he let Naruto continue.

"We fought a big battle and he was the toughest opponent I ever faced! Then after I impressed him, he gave me his power and restored my right arm." Naruto exclaimed showing off his fully renewed arm. Kakashi was wide-eyed that Naruto got his arm back just by meeting Ashura. But he nodded and asked another question with a grim expression.

"Also, Naruto since you are back early and have two days to spare before you go to Iwa, I need you to investigate another chakra signal our sensor squad sensed earlier today. They informed me that they sense another strange chakra, they also said they sensed you around that area as well. Do you know anything about it?" Kakashi asked. Naruto thought for a while until he laughed out loud getting Kakashi annoyed.

Naruto apologised and said, "Sorry! Sorry! It's just I know what that was so no need to worry, but first" Naruto threw some seals around and activated a privacy link between just Kakashi and him before saying.

"I didn't just meet Ashura. I also met another Otsutsuki ancestor." Naruto stated seriously. Kakashi was wide-eyed he met another Otsutsuki and asked whose.

Naruto smiled widely and said, "I met Otsutsuki Hanako, Hinata's ancestor, she wanted to meet her and gave awakened Hinata's dormant chakra that she was beginning to awaken! Not only that, Hinata doesn't stop getting better! She evolved the Byakugan to a new Dojutsu!" he exclaimed and Kakashi was intrigued that Hinata was a reincarnation as well, but even more interested in this brand new Dojutsu.

"The Byakugan has another form? Not surprising if you have seen the evolution of the Sharingan to a Rinnegan… So what kind of Dojutsu is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked seriously.

Naruto described it to Kakashi, "It's called the Tenseigan. It's the second form of the Byakugan, but it's powers are more like a Rinnegan's! It comes with its own chakra cloak much like my own allowing Hinata to fly, mastery of the five elemental releases plus Yin-Yang release and the ability to recreate a planet if powerful enough." He finished, Kakashi didn't show too much of it but he was in awe at the power that Hinata could now achieve. Then he told Naruto.

"It's a good thing you set up this privacy barrier, or else this would have stirred quite some trouble, but you figured it out, right?" Kakashi asked Naruto who nodded.

Naruto reasoned, "Yeah, I know that if this ever went public, there would be some more attempts directed towards Hinata for her eyes, which is pointless as the power could probably only be wielded by another Hyuga like her, or an Otsutsuki descendant like me. And the rest of her clan would probably be jealous of the power she now has and would try to get it under their control and make it theirs. Also, if it got out that Hinata has this power to other Nations and that she is a reincarnation of an actual Angel according to Kurama, then a lot of guys would probably bother her for marriage." Naruto spat that last part out making Kakashi feel a little amused how effected he was by that thought of Hinata getting married to someone else.

Kakashi decided to tease him, "Hhmmm… someone is possessive of someone, care to tell me what happened? He teased making Naruto blush and smile answering his question.

"We kinda kissed each other and really want to be with one another." Naruto admitted.

Kakashi smiled and edged him on, "What made you do that all of a sudden?" Naruto looked at him and replied, "It wasn't a sudden thing, but I told Hinata my feelings before we went to Uzushiogakure and told her that I wanted to become a better man for her first." He said, Kakashi was impressed that Naruto would go that far for her.

Naruto continued, "Also, I went into her mindscape with Hinata and her ancestor Hanako, what happened is that she went up and kissed Hinata! I admit I enjoyed looking at two Hinata's kissing each other, but despite that, I was really angry that it wasn't me, so when the whole mindscape meeting finished, I took Hinata's real first kiss since even seeing a girl kiss her made my blood boil." He ended with ferocity. Kakashi smiled widely at how much he loved the Hyuga Heiress.

Kakashi had enough of his fun and went back to business, "Anyway, thanks for telling me of this development, I'll keep it a secret even from her clan, except Hiashi who should be here anytime now" he said.

As if on que, Hiashi enters the office, Naruto quickly added Hiashi in the privacy link seal, so only the three of them could hear each other and their lips wouldn't be blurred except to those outside of the link.

Hiashi noticed this, but decided to question it later.

"Lord Hokage, I'm ready to depart for the delegations being held in Iwa. But I must ask, Naruto, how are you back so early and how is my daughter?" Hiashi asked stoically.

Naruto reassured him, "Hina-chan's doing fine! But we have to tell you something about what she got out of the trip to Uzushiogakure and the development of the seal." He told him seriously throwing Hiashi off. But he recovered quickly and asked, "What happened to my daughter!? She wasn't hurt was she!?" he glared at Naruto for if anything happened to his baby girl, his 'head' came off.

Naruto sweat dropped a bit, but said "No, she isn't hurt, but a little exhausted after using her new powers she got from her ancestor, Otsutsuki Hanako."

Hiashi was surprised that Hinata had gained new abilities. He nodded in relief that his daughter was okay at least, but he was curious about the meeting of this so-called ancestor of hers.

"Who is this Hanako you speak of?" Hiashi questioned.

Naruto told him about everything beginning from after he and Ashura finished fighting, how Hanako was her ancestor saying that she looks just like Hinata, how Hinata was awakening her chakra due to being who she is; kind, caring and selfless, then finally the one that finally made his jaw drop, the Tenseigan.

Hiashi began asking, "So you are saying, that my daughter has managed to awaken a new form of the Byakugan, that is as powerful as the Rinnegan and can make her strong enough to fight even you to a standstill." Naruto nodded.

Naruto said, "That's why I set up the privacy linking seal, so that only we know of this because if this ever got out, then more attempts on Hina-chan's life will occur" Hiashi agreed to this.

"I agree, not to mention, the greedy Elders and other in the clan who will stop at nothing to gain what she has at her disposal and all the increase in clan heirs, princes and other rich men who desire to court my daughter; your Hina-chan" he ended teasing Naruto who flushed at the fact Hiashi caught the fact he is in a relationship with her now.

Naruto panicked and swore to him "I promise to make Hina-chan happy, no matter what it takes, no matter what pain I have to feel just so she can live being happy for real. Even if it means giving her up to another man just so she can be happy, I'll do that, but there is no guy like that in existence so far, so instead I'll strive to always be the one that makes her happy, encourages her to achieve her dreams and reminds her just how strong and special she is!"

Hiashi smiled at the lengths Naruto would go for his daughter. He told him that he better stays true to his word and Naruto nodded furiously.

Once that was over with, they all agreed that Hinata's new powers would remain a secret until Hinata feels comfortable to divulge the secret herself. Naruto insisted that he would be training Hinata how to use the Tenseigan as the powers she acquired are similar to his own. Kakashi agreed on this and Hiashi approved as this was something entirely out of his league. Once the important parts were discussed, Naruto cancelled the privacy linking seals and made them disappear.

Hiashi continued his other question, "Anyway, what is it you wanted to tell me about your seal?" he asked.

Naruto told him how he believed Hinata deserved to know about the solution and asked her if she wanted to implement the seal as soon as possible, but said that she wants to achieve that dream with her own effort with a little help on the way since it means more that way.

Hiashi was proud of Hinata's conviction and determination, he now no longer had to worry about his daughter mistaking her ambition for the Hyuga Clan's future, her dream, being the same as her happiness. He had often seen Hinata contemplating whether or not she should give herself up to other clans who offered a potential solution. If it wasn't for Hiashi's experience in these affairs and his concern for his daughter, she would have made a hasty decision and ended up regretting her life afterwards for being too naïve that they would be able to resolve their situation with the Branch house.

 _ **Flashback, Iwa, 3 months ago**_

 _Hiashi was on a diplomatic trip to Iwa with his personal guards and advisors along with his two daughters; Hanabi was brought along for a learning experience and Hinata came along as the clan they were meeting had a proposal for her, which of course she was going to refuse as her heart belonged to someone else._

 _Hiashi knew what the deal was; another 'prosperous' clan with a 'wonderful' linage and heir who desired his eldest's hand in marriage._

 _He was disgusted by the idea, always was. But it was politics and this is how peace and solutions came about even if it rarely ended well._

 _But alas, he would humour them and take note of anything worth remembering and considering. The clan that requested a meeting with the Hyuga clan head and his daughters were known as the Akiyama clan, but other than that, they really had nothing noteworthy, no great reputation or even what they were known for. So, he expected them to be a rich clan with another heir they believed worthy of Hinata's hand._

 _ **At the meeting.**_

 _Hiashi, his daughters and his personal assistants were seated in the meeting room awaiting the Akiyama clan head and his heir to arrive._

 _When they arrived, they introduced themselves formally as did Hiashi and his daughters._

 _The Akiyama clan head went straight into business._

" _I am pleased to meet you, but I'd like to get into what we are here to discuss." He said._

 _Hiashi asked "Please do. So, tell me, why do you believe that your son is worthy of my eldest's hand." Hinata gasped at the topic, but held strong for the sake of the Hyuga's image._

 _The Akiyama clan head replied, "Oh! I could go on and on, but only my son, Kazuma can really tell you. Please introduce yourself and what do you think of Lady Hinata?" He asked his son, Kazuma._

 _Kazuma was a very tall man at about 188cm, who looked two years older than Hinata, he had a light skin tone, not pale, but not quite tanned. He wore a formal black Kimono, obviously wanting to look his best. Hinata may be in love with Naruto, but that didn't mean she couldn't see when someone was handsome, or beautiful. His eyes were very interesting, they were something else, as his dark green eyes held golden rings around the iris. But still, Hinata still found Naruto's sparkling blue gem eyes to be more beautiful, not because of her feelings, but rather the different types of emotions that Naruto's eyes could incite in one's heart. Kazuma's eyes were just, admirable, like Sakura's emerald eyes. To finish his appearance, he had dark brown hair done in a neatly done perm, if you added the Byakugan eyes to him, he would have looked just like a Hyuga. Overall, he was undeniably handsome, but Hinata didn't swoon for looks as she has proven from her observations of Naruto's inspiring character._

 _Kazuma told him as he looked at Hinata, "She is very lovely father" in a deep voice._

 _Hinata blushed at the compliment._

 _Hiashi saw this and observed the Akiyama clan head's expression who showed approval of the situation, mistaking it for her swooning._

 _Hiashi internally scoffed, "What a fool, believing my daughter is falling for his son based on a compliment!"_

 _The Akiyama head insisted, "Why don't my son and your eldest daughter get to know each other? They share the same hobby in botany!". Hiashi agreed to this as he wanted this to go smoothly and Hinata was excited to at least have someone to share her interest in. Hinata and Kazuma left for the gardens. Hanabi after a while, requested if she could go see it as well._

 _Hiashi and the Akiyama head let her._

 _Hiashi knew, what Hanabi was doing and was grateful, she was going to watch Hinata and Kazuma in the gardens._

 _Then, he heard the Akiyama head cough to get his attention and saw him activate a few privacy seals in the room that Hiashi decided to keep note of as he recognised the seals, despite not being a Sealing Expert like Konoha's Barrier squad or Naruto, he has looked through enough sealing books when he was working with Minato and Kushina back when they wanted to find a solution._

 _The Akiyama clan head spoke, "Sorry for the precautions, but what I'm going to tell you is exactly what my son when be offering your eldest daughter."_

 _Hiashi nodded politely and let him know he was listening._

 _The Akiyama head continued, "Well, we know of your situation in your clan…" Hiashi tensed slightly as that was meant to be a clan secret, he filed that away in the back of his mind as did his advisors so he could look into it later._

 _Hiashi replied with a bit of a harsh tone "and….?"._

 _The Akiyama clan head inwardly was frightened, but Iwa's cold stone will to not show any fear or emotions let him hide it. But Hiashi was not an amateur, he knew that showing no emotions meant that he was hiding something, the first red flag._

 _The Akiyama head continued, "We can help" he said in a straightforward manner. Hiashi was surprised that he said that he could help with the Hyuga clan's situation, but it was the fact they knew that made him keep his guard up._

 _Hiashi asked, "How do you think you can help?" he humoured the man, not for a second falling for his trap._

 _Hiashi thought 'He somehow knows our well-guarded secret and then says he can offer us support…' the second red flag._

 _The Akiyama head continued "The Akiyama clan specialises in Fuinjutsu, it's how we make our living, our seals are sold throughout our nation" he claimed._

 _Hiashi was now interested, he kept hope to maybe having a possible solution to his clan, but if it wasn't for what he assumed the cost was, Hinata, he wouldn't accept either way. Plus, the comment about his clan having their seals sold throughout Iwa made the third red flag go up._

 _Hiashi analysed the comment in his mind, 'Oh please~ I know as well as you do that many clans and families in the sealing business sell their seals in as many stores as they can get them in. Even if you have the most popular explosive seals in the country, that doesn't make your clan esteemed in the art of Fuinjutsu!'_

 _Hiashi had to ask a few important questions._

" _If that is so, how come we have never heard of your clan? Why don't you advertise your specialty to gain more opportunities? Hiashi questioned._

 _The Akiyama clan head was fuming inside, but managed to keep his façade._

 _He replied, "What are you crazy!? If people found out about of specialty, then it would cause a nationwide panic!" he laughed._

 _Hiashi on the other hand cringed on the inside, 'Yeah! Like all the other hundreds of other sealing clans and smaller families who let their business be known throughout Iwa! They suffered the horrible fate of increased business and profits!' the fourth red flag was raised._

 _Hiashi played along._

" _I understand, but what projects have you done to be so sure you can provide us assistance?" he asked._

 _The Akiyama head smiled believing he convinced Hiashi._

" _Well, we can't tell you what exactly we have worked on due to privacy contracts we have signed…" the Akiyama head said, but Hiashi had the fifth red flag go up._

 _Hiashi thought again, 'He technically isn't lying, I have seen Tenten's business before, that some deals she makes are private, like the arrangement she has with Naruto. His services have improved the quality of the seals to an unrivalled level.'_

 _The Akiyama head continued, "… but, I can say that we worked on the sealing of the two Iwa jinchurikis."_

 _Hiashi was shocked that he'd make that claim, but knew better._

' _He and his clan may have had something to do with it, but that doesn't make them the ones responsible for the sealings. Not to mention the Yonbi and the Gobi require much less potent sealing methods…' Hiashi thought. The sixth red flag raised._

 _Hiashi simply said, "I see, that is impressive." He lied. The Akiyama head almost showed a true smile until…_

" _Can you show me what seals you have been working on lately or your best seals?" Hiashi requested. The Akiyama head panicked a little, but put himself together._

" _We can't allow that, it's a privacy matter" he replied in a no-nonsense tone._

 _Seventh red flag raised. Hiashi was not taking his word for anything now._

 _Hiashi let it slide and asked what this had to do with his eldest daughter._

 _The Akiyama clan said, "We'll offer our assistance to your clan, if you accept my son's proposal for your daughter's hand in marriage, please think about convincing her" he finished._

 _Hiashi was inwardly fuming, 'You offered assistance with no physical evidence, but rather claims with little to nothing to support it but excuses and believe I would be so gullible to give up my daughter for 'assistance', I'm here for a guarantee not more pointless help!'_

 _So Hiashi asked one last question, "If I may ask, what can you offer that will alleviate my concerns about your clan's 'specialty'?" he put emphasis on the word specialty._

 _The Akiyama head said, "You can ask the Tsuchikage! He knows all the clans' specialties!" with his eyes closed, a big mistake because Hiashi used that one moment to activate his Byakugan and saw the privacy seals they were using. His concerns were confirmed!_

' _These frauds! They claim to be a Fuinjutsu clan, but they use prototype seals that came from the Uzumaki clan without even bothering to modify it! I've seen these seals from Kushina and Minato a long time ago! They made the complete versions for my clan's private meeting rooms.' Hiashi was no longer convinced._

 _Hiashi thanked him for the meeting and said he'd 'consider' his offer._

 _The Akiyama head told them to enjoy their stay within their compound. They would be there for 2 weeks due to the Heir and his daughter getting to know each other._

 _ **After two weeks, travelling back to Konoha**_

 _The stay was quite comfortable for the Hyugas, as the living environment atmosphere was similar to the Hyuga Compound._

 _Hinata enjoyed her stay, when asked about Kazuma, she said that he is a great person and an even better friend. Mostly due to the fact that they could relate to having lost their mothers and shared the same hobby. Hinata didn't develop any romantic feelings for him, but still considered him to be a friend on the same level as Ino, as she knows the flower language too, obviously. She called him Kazuma-kun as he was a genuine friend to her now, after all, she calls all the people she cares about with that honorific leading to a few misunderstandings._

 _But she thought about the offer he had offered her. He said that if she accepted his proposal, then his clan would help with the situation with the Branch family. The way he had done it was in all honesty very endearing, not him, but the flower language. But over time, it lost its effect on her as he depended more on the flowers rather than himself to express his feelings leading Hinata to doubt him. But the offer was too tempting to pass up._

 _She asked her father that she would accept his proposal. But Hiashi outright said no, Hinata would have complained if Hanabi didn't step in and support her father as well. Making her speechless. When Hiashi told her why not, his response ran a very deep message to her, especially if she wanted to become the Heiress._

 _Hiashi lectured "Hinata, you must not let your dreams and ambitions cloud your judgement and thinking, your dream is also mine, but over the years, I have learnt not to latch onto hope believing everything that person says just because it's exactly what you want to hear. If you had fell in love with him, then it would be different, but you obviously see that man as a good friend…" Hinata nodded, Hiashi continued, "Also, his father informed me that his son told you the same thing, what I heard sounded too good to be true and I thought back on his words and they aren't telling the entire truth!" Hinata was wide-eyed at this notion._

 _Hiashi continued before she could speak, "He was very good at higing the emotions on his face, but his words told me another story, he said that if they let be known to Iwa they specialise in sealing, then the country would cause them panic. Yet, they have other hundreds of sealing clans and even small family business known throughout the country for their seals than them. So, they aren't all they say they are and to add insult to injury, I even saw they used seals stolen from a long lost clan unmodified and unfinished!" Hinata was in disbelief that such generous people would be lying about their skills. Kazuma was already one of her better friends, and this was hard to hear._

 _Hiashi knew this, but also knew that this was a good wake-up call for Hinata, "I know, I was hoping they had the solution too, but I know you love someone else and I'd rather keep the seal than sacrifice your happiness…" Hinata's heart felt warm at those._

"… _I'm not saying this because I don't like them, which I don't…" making his daughters giggle._

"… _I've seen those seals they used before and they belonged to a clan where your mother's best friend came from, not to mention, we have the completed version of their privacy seal." Hiashi said. Hinata now believed her father and wanted to thank him for telling her this._

" _I wanted to tell this as a lesson, which is not to be swayed by what you want to hear or else you end up making regretful decisions. I don't need to tell you about the flower gestures he did for you as well." Hiashi stated. Hinata nodded and knew what he meant about the flowers._

 _Hanabi stepped in, "I watch every interaction you and that Kazuma guy had, he's more like a good friend of your rather than a good husband." Hinata nodded and agreed, Hanabi continued, "Also, when he did the flower gesture, I could see from a third person thing you would have not seen as flowers interest you a lot, the message the flower conveyed was not the same as the feeling I saw in his eyes." Hinata waited for Hanabi to finish._

"… _his eyes looked hungry, not caring, every time he did a 'romantic' gesture, it seemed as if he planned it and didn't come from the heart." Hanabi finished. Hinata agreed with her observation, the wooing definitely felt planned and never heartfelt._

 _Hiashi did say that if worst comes to worst, then they'd consider their proposal. They went home and Hinata learn not to be swayed by things she wants to hear._

 _ **Flashback end**_

Hiashi thought back to that day and was glad that Naruto stepped in again. Now the Naruto made her realise that dreams are meant to be achieved through your own two hands and effort, with help along the way and not through giving yourself away for someone else to do it for you, Hinata would no longer ever think about giving herself away just to have someone do what she wants to achieve.

Hiashi looked at Naruto for a moment and thought, 'Thank you for saving my daughter, yet again Naruto…'

Hiashi looked back to Kakashi and said, "I'm ready to depart to the delegations in Iwa at any moment, but since Naruto and Hinata are back, I may have them come along with me as I want to see her 'progress' myself." Kakashi looked at Naruto who nodded and this was allowed.

But Naruto informed Hiashi, "Wait! Hinata is resting in the hospital right now from chakra exhaustion, so I think it's best we leave on schedule rather than as soon as possible." Hiashi hearing this agrees and decides to pay her a visit with Naruto.

 **Back in Hinata's hospital room**

Hinata was beginning to awaken, she still felt the chakra drainage from her first use of the Tenseigan Chakra Cloak and knew that she needed to practice. Still too tired to stand she fell back onto the bed.

Then, the door to her room opened revealing Naruto and her father together. Which made her have mixed feelings; she was happy to see them, but scare of what her father being here meant.

Naruto greeted her in a teasing manner "Morning Hina-chan!" making Hiashi raise an eyebrow at the address but didn't question it.

Hinata laughed knowing full well that it wasn't morning, but it was the evening.

"Well, good evening Naru-kun!" she replied. Naruto pouted at the fact that she didn't fall for the trick. Hiashi was inwardly entertained by what was happening but acted as if he wasn't pleased.

Hiashi decided to speak up, "Well, hello Hinata, may I ask how you are feeling?" Hinata looked at her father and assured him that she felt fine, but still a little exhausted.

Hiashi nodded and Naruto said, "Well, using that much chakra takes a lot of out of you, tebayo! So, when you get better, we're going to be heading off to Iwa and while we are at it, I'll train you in what I can teach you, mostly the chakra cloak thing and the Truthseeker Orbs. I'll see if I can get Sasuke to help you out with the other stuff. Is that okay with you Hina-chan!?" he asked excited at the thought of training with Hinata.

Hinata was excited as well and couldn't help herself when she agreed loudly, "Yes Naruto! I'd love to train with you!" and Naruto shot her a smile and a good guy pose.

Hiashi looked at the two and saw a flash of Kushina and his wife, Hikari, at their age doing the same thing. Making him smile.

But he knew this wasn't time for reminiscing, he said, "Well, make sure you two are ready by Wednesday, we leave for Iwa then." Naruto and Hinata nodded. Hiashi left the room and Naruto asked Hinata if she was able to get out of hospital, which she said in a bit making Naruto hang around a bit longer.

Naruto asked, "So, you've been to Iwa right?"

"Yes, I have, it's a very majestic place, it can't compare to Uzushiogakure. It's a sight to see." She told him. Naruto became excited to see a place like that and promised to get a lot of pictures and eat all the ramen he could find. Hinata chuckled at his antics.

Naruto looked to her again and said, "So, is there anything you like to do there that you want me to try out?" asked.

Hinata nodded, "Yes, they have some of the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen which I have only ever seen in books, which by the way, you still need to show me your garden!" she called him out and he chuckled nervously.

Hinata continued, "Other than that, there is a loose end I need to tie up over there…" she paused. Naruto looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"And… what would that be?" he asked.

Hinata simply replied, "Something that you opened my eyes to."

* * *

 **Omake: Hinata's dream**

 **Whilst Hinata was sleeping in the hospital. She was having a very disturbing dream in her new mindscape with Hanako.**

 **Apparently, Hanako wanted to teach Hinata about how to please her man better and offered her 'assitance'. Hinata tried to escape by waking up or at least exiting her mindscape, but Hinata wasn't experienced at that yet. So, unfortunately Hinata was forced into some girl-on-girl action with her ancestor.**

 **Until Naruto and Hiashi walked into her room.**

 **That's why she was relieved to see the both of them.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Back with another chapter!**

 **This one is one the lighter and more humorous side of the Naruto universe.**

 **Although this chapter will have more liveliness to it than the usual serious side and action than the last few chapter.**

 **This is the beginning of the "Yang Path" of the story where I begin to delve into the mysteries of Yang chakra and what life means for others.**

 **With that said, here you go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Teachings of Yang**

After asking Hinata what she needed to do in Iwa. She simply responded with, "Something you opened my eyes to."

Naruto tilted his head, but smiled at her regardless as she had a clear mindset for whatever it is she had to do. Even better, that he was the one that inspired her yet again.

Naruto told her, "I don't know what I did, or even if it was really me, but I'm glad to be of help to you! Dattebayo!" he said.

Hinata giggled before asking, "Kuku! But Naruto, isn't it inconvenient for you to be with me all the time? I don't want to always depend on others… especially you..." she ended sadly.

Naruto smiled genuinely, "Why do you make it sound like I have to be with you? I like helping you! More than that, I like you!" he exclaimed, Hinata had a red tint at the end of his statement.

Naruto then said, "Besides, you don't depend on others at all! No, they help you because they want to, like they did for me and me with Sasuke and Sakura-chan. What you do however, is find inspiration, a role model to use to guide you to find your own strength! Like, when you saved me from Pain and during the War when you finally mastered the 64 palms and lead the Hyuga to greatness! Those accomplishments aren't things you get from people doing it for you, but rather they encourage you to achieve. So that's why, don't be afraid to look to others if you've lost your way, we'll help you find your strength again, like you did for me when Neji died…" he ended seriously with an intense sincerity in his eyes and voice that could not be matched by even a Hyuga.

Hinata at these words, her heart felt like it stopped beating due to it being too fast to the point the heat generated made it melt. Also, she had never thought of it that way, for years she believed that having other help her meant she was weak, when really, they were only encouraging her to find her strength because they all believed in her!

Hinata thanked Naruto so much, but not with words, but instead with a sudden burst of strength, she tossed her arms over Naruto's neck and ate out his lips.

Naruto was surprised, but not necessarily disappointed, he easily gave into the sensation of her lips on his and battled her for dominance which he was losing.

He then pushed he back onto her bed hoping to gain an advantage, however, their little game couldn't last as a loud slam of the door made them shoot up.

Hiashi was at the door with his arms crossed, Byakugan active and purple monster apparition appearing behind him. Hiashi activated a mode even stronger than the Six Paths Sage mode that Naruto recently acquired.

The Overprotective Dad Mode!

"UZUMAKI! UNHAND MY DAUGHTER AT ONCE YOU IMBECILE!" Hiashi warned and launched himself at Naruto who body flickered towards the window.

Hinata tried to calm him down, "F-Father! It's not as it seems!"

Hiashi heard none of it and told her, "Hinata! I'll make sure this boy pays dearly for violating your innocence!" Hinata was mortified at the term.

Naruto was frantic, a protective father was even worse than Kaguya, and even Ashura when he fought him! Desperate for an escape, he opened the window and jumped out activating his Six Paths Sage mode without the Chakra Cloak to fly away.

Hiashi was fuming! "Get back here Uzumaki! Fight like a man!"

Naruto with wide white eyes reasoned, "When you're mad! Fighting like a man isn't enough to beat you! Tebayo!"

Hiashi responded, "Exactly! I have nothing that can stop me!"

He then shot an Air Palm towards Naruto who easily but comically dodged it.

He reached for a Kunai, but discovered he left his kunai pouch and cape with Hinata.

'Crap! I don't have anything I can use against him… wait! I can use the experimental seal I've been working on since I finished the scrolls I got from Kakashi-sensei and Baa-chan.' Naruto inwardly strategized.

He focused on the seal he left on the Kunai he modified whilst Hinata was sleeping and he had clones to keep watch during their journey to Uzushiogakure.

Hiashi shot a barrage of Air Palms at Naruto in a way that even Naruto would be able to dodge easily without one hitting him at least.

Then the biggest shock happened… an orange spark of colour appeared where Naruto once was.

"Hiraishin!? When did he learn that!?" Hiashi yelled. Hinata was shocked also as she saw Naruto do the Fourth Hokage's prized technique. Just orange and with a spark sound instead of a flash.

Then, Naruto reappeared where his stuff was; on the desk next to Hinata's bed and he landed directly on the seat where he was sitting watching Hinata.

"I can't believe that worked! Dattebayo! Did you see that Hina-chan!? That was awesome! Tebayo!" Naruto asked her.

Hinata was in awe and asked, "How did you do that? When did you learn your father's jutsu?" Naruto grinned sheepishly.

Hiashi, however, was still mad and bargained with Naruto.

"When did you learn about Minato's technique!? Tell me and then I'll spare you!" he negotiated.

Naruto gulped and told them how he already finished all the scrolls from his mother's side and his Dad's personal studies. He recounted that's when he already knew the mechanics behind the Hiraishin seal, so he ventured out trying to find the formula that is meant for him.

Hinata asked, "But Naru-kun. Don't you already have the whole formula for the Hiraishin from your father? So, couldn't you use the technique by applying it straight from the scroll?" Naruto shook his head.

"No. I thought that would be the case, but the Hiraishin is more like the Summoning contracts that Sasuke, Sakura-chan and I use. It only summons what it is meant to summon, my dad's formula was a warping technique that allows only him and others he allows to warp with him. Therefore, there is no set method for creating the Hiraishin. Which is why Iwa seal masters could never reverse engineer the technique as their seals are set in stone and not very flexible, not taking anything from them, but they look for straight forward solutions that are good enough, not anything complex for bigger problems." Naruto explained.

Hiashi and Hinata nodded in understanding.

"That's why the Second Hokage's and my Dad's Hiraishin symbols are very different. The Second was kind of a traditional guy, so his looked just like the summoning markings, whereas my Dad was more about speed and better ways to do things that his one ended up being more on the compact side. And seeing as my one finally worked, I guess I got my formula down!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata was amazed by Naruto's accomplishments as usual and Hiashi nodded impressed and spared Naruto's life.

"I see, then I forgive you for what has happened between you and my Daughter" Hiashi said. Naruto and Hinata groaned and told him that it wasn't like that.

Hiashi then told them, "I'll be seeing you at the gates Wednesday morning Naruto, and Hinata, please do get well" Hinata nodded and Naruto grinned widely.

Hiashi then took his leave.

Naruto turned back to Hinata and asked her.

"How long until you can get out of hospital?" He asked her with pleading eyes.

Hinata answered "About couple more hours, just to get my chakra back." Naruto heard something about the chakra deprivation and smiled.

Hinata was getting nervous, "Naru-kun?" she said worrying.

Naruto told her to stay still, he then placed his right hand on her left shoulder and used Ninshu to replenish her chakra.

Hinata felt energised and wanted to hop out of bed, but opted for slowly getting out.

Naruto was smiling but underneath he was telling himself.

'So that's what she needs to do in Iwa… I shouldn't be worried about those guys as she technically has the choice to decline and the effects of Ninshu is stronger through physical contact.' He thought.

Hinata said, "Thank you Naru-kun! I thought I was going to die out of boredom" in a carefree manner. Naruto grinned.

"So, what do we do? We have about less than two days before we have to get to Iwa." Hinata reminded him.

Naruto took a more serious face and told her, "Well… I thought now that your better, we could start you training in using your new 'Six Paths' Power you got from Hanako"

Hinata nodded and was excited.

"So, what do we start off with?" Hinata asked.

Naruto replied, "Well, like with new technique, we are gonna start off mastering the elements that your new form uses."

Hinata understood and asked, "Which element are you going to train me in?"

Naruto told her, "We'll do what I know by heart… Yang Release!"

Hinata was confused and asked, "Yang on its own? Don't you need to use Yin and Yang to mold chakra?"

Naruto nodded, "That's right, but Yang techniques are almost 100 percent Yang, with miniscule amounts of Yin in it. For example, the Shadow Clone jutsu is a mostly Yang as it's not an illusion, but rather a form given a soul via spliting chakra."

Hinata understood.

Naruto then told her, "Yang is physical energy. I have lots of it as I can run around forever if I had too. It can also give a huge boost in physical strength if mastered to such an extent, give others a chakra boost like I did with you and maybe, like I did with Kurama, we used so much lifeforce that it gave him a physical being that can touch things"

Hinata's eyes widened at the applications of Yang Release.

Hinata in awe said, "Amazing! Yang release can do things like that?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! But its better if I show you what it can do at the training grounds." He insisted and Hinata followed.

* * *

 **Naruto's personal Training ground**

Hinata was at first confused as to why Naruto said they had to run as fast they could in the direction of the Land of Rivers. His training grounds which he made was far away! Hinata questioned the logic and he simply told her that it was his insurance from getting raped by fans. She laughed at his wording.

Once they got there, Naruto still looked fresh showing that his endurance had increased despite having to run faster than normal due to Hinata's surprising speed. However, she was huffing and puffing so the presense of Hamura's Chakra she received from Hanako didn't exactly boost her stamina a great deal.

Naruto used Ninshu to transfer some Yang chakra into her to revitalise her Chakra levels back to full capacity.

Hinata then asked, "That chakra restoration technique of yours… is that like Medical ninjutsu in a way?"

Naruto scratched his head thinking about how to break it down to her.

"Well, it's similar, but you already know that Medical Ninjutsu falls under Yin and Yang, right?" Naruto said.

Hinata nodded but admitted, "I know medical ninjutsu, but I never learnt that it was a Yin and yang skill"

Naruto then went on to explain Yin and Yang release.

"Yeah, Yin release is spiritual chakra and yada yada yada, you already know that its chakra you receive from experience and knowledge chakra wise." Naruto said. Hinata nodded thankful that Naruto at least knew to skip the Academy stuff.

"Well, what many don't know about Yin release, is that it allows users to create forms out of nothing. A body out of purely chakra." Naruto said. Hinata was amazed at what Yin release could do.

"Though, meeting a Yin user that powerful is rare, only Sasuke I know has the strongest Yin element in the Nations. But back to the lesson, most cases, Yin users are genjutsu specialist as it's easy for them to create an illusion that looks real, some people can create a physical body, but is just that… an empty bowl of Ramen!" Naruto described in a way making Hinata laugh.

"I'm sure you get it by now, but the Academy clone jutsu is the best example of Yin Release I can think of." Naruto said.

Hinata understood what Yin-release was now and that it was simpler than she thought; the creation of a form from nothing using purely chakra.

Naruto then added something else for the dramatic effect, "This isn't necessary, but, knowing this can help, Yin release isn't for making genjutsu, but rather making things a reality if your affinity is strong enough for it. Sasuke, using his Yin-release can open portals to other dimensions, pretty much allowing him to choose which reality he wants to go!" Hinata was in awe at the potential of Yin-release.

Naruto then got back of track, "But for medical ninjutsu, I guess it has something to do with making all those chakra scalpels and mending one's wounds, so I guess, it's really reversing the reality of one's injuries." He concluded.

Hinata however, had wide-eyes; it made sense now. All those medical studies about speeding up recovery was in fact reversing the damage through Yin-release!

Naruto then moved on to Yang, his time to shine.

"Then we got the more fun Yang-release! Just look at me! Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed with his chest out making Hinata roll on the ground with laughter.

Once she stopped, Naruto continued, "Yang-release is the physical energy one has within their body. Pretty much things like endurance, strength and life spans." Hinata nodded.

"Um… what exactly does Yang release do?" she asked.

Naruto then answered her, "Well… it breathes life into a soulless form if there is one, else if there was just pure Yang chakra, then it be like making a ghost." Naruto shivered at that word, Hinata found it cute that he feared ghost.

"Anyway! I used Yang-release to stabilise people's lifeforces as I did with Gai-sensei to save his life. I used Yang chakra to greatly enhance my physical abilities, it's like using Sage mode, without gathering Natural energy and it can be used to a greater extent reviving the lifeforce of certain organs, like eyeballs!" he exclaimed.

Hinata was mesmerised at the applications of Yang-release.

Naruto didn't know how to explain Yang release properly so he decided to show her instead.

He suddenly makes a few hand gestures and made an Earth pillar and a pond of water. Hinata was shocked at his affinities for them but remained silent.

"They say that to use Wood Release, you have to have equally strong affinities for Earth and Water release." Naruto told her. Hinata nodded.

"While that's true, the combination of the two elements just results in making mud and not Wood like the First Hokage." Naruto reasoned and Hinata was thinking about what this had to do with Yang-release.

"What the First Hokage had was a very powerful lifeforce, in other words Yang which made it nigh impossible for others to control." Naruto said and Hinata finally knew where this was going.

"So, the wood release is actually using Yang-release as well!" Hinata concluded. Naruto grinned.

"Exactly! If Kurama's chakra turned the White Zetsus into trees, then I thought maybe Yang chakra was needed to turn Earth with Water into Wood as they needed life!" Naruto exclaimed and made hand seal.

"Yang release: Beginning of Life!" he shouted and directed his golden chakra to the earth and water mixture he made earlier and it became a huge tree that dwarfed even the ones in the forest of death.

To add his personality to it, it had oranges!

Hinata's eyes twinkled at what had happened.

"Amazing…" she said quietly. Naruto smiled.

"Hehehe! This is how get my plants to grow at home! Dattebayo!" Naruto claimed. Hinata went wide-eyed.

"You mean Yang-release can be used for gardening!?" Hinata questioned and Naruto nodded.

"Wow… I really want to learn how to use Yang release now." She said and Naruto sweat dropped.

"So… are you ready to get started?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and said, "More than ready!"

Naruto smiled and had a fire in his eyes; he was excited.

"Alright, the first exercise we're going to do is…" he paused and summoned two seedlings in pots.

"… making these two plants grow to full bloom!" Naruto shouted and Hinata was excited.

Naruto demonstrated how to do it whilst doing his best to explain how to utilise Yang release.

"Yang chakra is the essence of life. Try to imagine the growth of a flower and give it the energy to grow to full bloom!" he described as his pot quickly grew a sunflower with nothing but Yang chakra.

Hinata stared amazed by this feat and tried to do the same.

However, all she managed was a small sprout of the seed. Naruto chuckled at Hinata's pouting face.

"You did well Hina-chan!" Naruto congratulated her.

Hinata just pouted even more, "But I didn't even make mine grow completely…" she whined. Naruto was trying his best not to succumb to Hinata's cuteness. But decided to comment about it instead.

"Don't be like that! You did even better than I did back then! Dattebayo! Although that face you're making is cute…" he ended.

Hinata was blushing.

"Na-Naru-kun!" Hinata sputtered.

Naruto laughed wholeheartedly and Hinata was now listening to his new laugh; it was manlier, yet retained its childish charm.

"Oh! I'm glad that you're you!" Naruto exclaimed. Hinata tilted her head and asked, "How so?"

Naruto just mischievously grinned and admitted, "Only you can be adorable whilst being, pretty, sexy and drop-dead gorgeous at the same time!"

Hinata turned away forgetting the Yang training to hide her blush from her Naruto. Even if they were technically dating, it was still embarrassing for her to blush so much in front of Naruto. She could handle blushing in front of strangers to show that she isn't comfortable, or flattered, but with Naruto, she didn't want to be so embarrassed around him as she wanted to be by his side, not overwhelmed!

Naruto chuckling slowly stopped and he said, "Sorry about that! I didn't mean to embarrass you Hina-chan! I just wanted to say the truth, dattebayo!"

Hinata's blushing wasn't as strong, but it did intensify when he said it was truth with his catch phrase; it meant he said it from the heart, not to sway her.

"It's okay Naru-kun. Just a little bit overwhelming for me, but I don't mind because you really mean it." She reassured him with a smile. Naruto grinned widely with a hint of pink on his face.

After about an hour, the sun was setting and told them they needed to get back to the village.

"Oi! Hina-chan, let's get back to the village, we can practice growing plants with our chakra tomorrow" he told her.

Hinata agreed, "Okay, let's head back…" she said but almost fell forward due to the amount of chakra she expended trying to grow a flower.

Naruto caught her gently and informed her, "Yang chakra is different from the other types of chakra most Shinobi use. It's physical, meaning it takes more out of the body. Heck! I'm amazed you lasted that long for your first time using Yang chakra! Dattebayo!"

Hinata nodded weakly and replied.

"Really? Thanks, Naru-kun, I guess I have to keep practicing… Wow, I'm really tired… sorry Naru-kun, looks like you'll have to carry me all the way back to the Village…" she told him. Naruto smiled a genuine one.

"Don't apologise! I like holding you! Besides, who says we have to walk back…" Naruto ended with a gleam in his sparkling blue eyes.

Hinata wanted to ask what it was, but suddenly felt herself getting lighter.

* * *

 **Konoha, Naruto's Apartment**

When Hinata felt herself feeling normal again, she looked around and saw a very sparse and clean apartment unit. She saw well-polished wooden floors, she saw a wooden table with four chairs with a vase of sunflowers in it telling her she was most likely in a dining room and the kitchen seeing it behind the table.

She turned her head and saw a door opened revealing the corridor leading to a bathroom, storage room and a bedroom most likely.

Hinata wondered where she was until Naruto answered her question.

"Welcome to my apartment Hina-chan! How is it?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Hinata replied, "It feels so homey and lively…" she described.

She was so tired that she only realised that she was in Naruto's apartment, with him alone.

She began blushing, "Na-Na-Na-Naru-kun! Why are we in your apartment!? How did we get here!? What are we going to do!?" she rapidly questioned with her mind coming up with some 'High-quality Icha Icha material'.

Naruto laughed and told her, "Well, you remember the Hiraishin technique I used earlier today? I actually had a clone come here to apply the seal and tend my garden so I could just flash back home no problem!"

Hinata was amazed and accepted his answer.

"Also, since we're back early, I can show you my garden like you asked me too! Or, we can get something to eat first, I know your hungry! Dattebayo!" Naruto said the last part knowingly as he used Ninshu to read her mind and feelings; she was hungry and didn't realise it yet! He also knew about the dirty thoughts she was having, but decided not to question that.

"It's fine Naru-kun… I'm not hungry…" she tried say until her stomach growled loudly like Chouji when he wants BBQ. Her face turned red out of embarrassment. Naruto grinned and laughed at her expense.

"You're really silly Hina-chan! I got some ramen waiting for us! You want some?" Naruto offered, Hinata agreed and helped herself to some ramen which Naruto was eager to share with her.

"Alright! And just for you! We're having some of my Premium Limited-Edition Ramen Bowls that I only have on special occasions! Dattebayo!" Naruto excitedly exclaimed and the tired Hinata smiled in amusement at his enthusiasm.

He prepared the two bowls of special ramen and set down in front of them with two glasses of water and two cans of soda just in case.

Naruto as usual, slurped it like it was nothing, however, he was shocked that Hinata already finished hers and was politely drinking her water.

Naruto got her attention when he whined, "Damn it! I lost a ramen contest with you again! Next time I'll win!"

Hinata heard this, she blushed and giggled at his eagerness to compete and went back to drinking her water whilst watch Naruto stuff his cheeks making him look like a cute little fox.

* * *

 **10 minutes later**

Naruto eventually finished his ramen on time to get to his can of fizzy orange soda. He was glad Hinata waited for him so she could start as well.

When their post-workout meal was done, Naruto asked her if she still wanted to see his garden which she agreed to easily. Therefore, the two got up and Naruto lead the way to the apartment building's rooftop and boy, was Hinata in for a surprise.

* * *

 **On the apartment rooftop**

Once they were outside, Naruto lead her past the door and she was in awe at the sight he presented to her.

It was out-of-this world.

This was Naruto's personal garden! What she saw put even the Shinobi Nations' most beautiful botanical gardens, which she has seen them all, to shame.

The pottery was done in a personalised style courtesy of Naruto, the flowers didn't just stay on the ground of in pots, but some of them even grew along the vines on the metal wire grid walls Naruto had set up created a wall that seemed like it was made from flowers of various colours.

There were even some small trees arcing towards one another creating what seemed to be a gateway to other sections of his garden, a detail Hinata wanted to know how to do so badly.

She also loved the attention to detail that was put into the little spiralling rows of flowers of different kinds diverging from the little bonsai, she also found the little bridges that gapped the distance from the bonsai's pot to the spiralling row's.

Hinata found herself loving how some of the metal wire grids were bent into concave walls that made a unique casing for some of the flowers that didn't have room in their pots and rows.

The best part of this garden was, that every single one of them were not flowers she had read about. They were brand new! Some she could say were similar, but they weren't flowers that you could buy from Yamanaka's. Not even the Hyuga clan had flowers such as these!

Hinata looked towards a proudly grinning Naruto.

"Naru-kun! This is your garden!? It's amazing!" Hinata complimented.

Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Really? I was just doing the best I could with what I learnt on the go." He admitted modestly.

Hinata had stars in her eyes. Naruto had made this beautiful sight to behold with skills he learnt on his own!

Hinata told him, "Yes Naru-kun, in fact, your garden is the greatest I've ever seen, not even the world-renowned gardens I have visited compare to what you've made…"

Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you like it so far! You want to see the rest?" Naruto asked with barely hidden excitement.

Hinata of course agreed, if the first part of his rooftop garden was this amazing, then the rest was only getting better.

The more Naruto showed her, the more enamoured she became with his garden… it was so creative, unique and beautiful that she couldn't believe that Naruto wasn't an employee at Yamanaka's, if not, a florist who makes gardens for various clans.

"This is all so breath-taking Naru-kun… Do you think you could help out with the gardening back at the Hyuga Compound?" Hinata asked.

Naruto smiled and replied, "I'd love to! I can't wait to see a garden bigger than my apartment! Dattebayo!" Hinata giggled at his excitement and implied joke.

Naruto then looked up making Hinata look where he was looking; the tallest part of his apartment building.

Naruto looked at her and said, "Come on! My pride and joy is up there!" whilst he wall-walked slowly and Hinata followed.

'His garden is already so mesmerising… yet his best plant is up there?' Hinata thought.

When the two reached the top of the tower, they saw Naruto's best plant in a planter row directly in front of the setting sun.

A lavender grass plant with blossoming white pedals with hints of yellow that was glowing from the sun.

"Wow… This was the plant that you told me about." Hinata recalled.

Naruto replied, "Yeah! I like this plant the most, it reminds of you, the grass is like your hair, the white pedals are like your eyes and the yellow makes me remember the meaning of your name… it reminds me of how kind and caring you are, yet how strong and determined you can be. It never stops growing, it keeps going, albeit slowly, it just keeps growing and glowing brighter each day." Naruto described.

Hinata's heart had melted away at what this plant meant to Naruto. It was so sincere and so endearing.

She discovered that whilst she knew the language of flowers.

Naruto, gave his plants their own meaning, their own purpose based on how they grew and made him feel. She knew the flower language, whereas Naruto understood the heart of flowers.

Then the most amazing thing happened, the sun finally set and the moonlight shone upon the plant and the two. Revealing its hidden beauty.

The lavender grass blades contrasted with the now illuminated pedals of white along with the shining gold hue in the middle of each pedal.

Naruto and Hinata looked at the sight a bit longer before both turning to each other staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

Naruto saw Hinata's complexion glow highlighting her flawless creamy skin, the feint shade of midnight blue that resembled the night sky and her twinkling lavender-shaded eyes where he could see her care and love for him and him only.

For Hinata, she saw Naruto's Sunkist skin contrast his spikey blonde hair that was now reflecting a new golden hue, his whisker marks stood out more and his blue eyes sparkling with an even higher refractive index enticing to her.

They slowly inched their faces closer and as they pressed their lips together. The moon was now high in the night sky and the plant finally reached its full bloom as its pods opened to reveal many white dragon lilies.

Their love had blossomed into something more.

* * *

 **Tuesday morning, Naruto's bedroom**

Okay! You may be thinking 'Whoa! They took it to third base!' No, they didn't do anything sexual, if the sloppy kisses and groping is excluded. After that kiss, they knew nothing could come between them and destroy what they had, for it was something much greater than love.

We find our favourite pair snoozing in Naruto's bed both wearing matching clothing that Naruto picked out; black T-shirts and orange pants. Naruto was laying on his back with his head on the pillows, whereas Hinata was laying on top of him with her head resting on his sculpted chest.

This would have lasted a bit longer if someone didn't have to come looking for them.

"UZUMAKI!" A familiar stoic voice screamed. They both woke up and were sweating bullets. Mostly Naruto.

Naruto reluctantly got up quickly leaving a pouting Hinata, once he opened his bedroom door, he saw Hiashi with his Byakugan activated emitting the aura of the Shinigami.

Naruto immediately figured out why he was angry; he had seen Hinata and him sleeping together in an intimate way that he thought something might have happened.

"W-W-Wait! I can explain!" Naruto exclaimed. However, Hiashi dismissed him.

"There's no need to explain! I can clearly see what has taken place!" Hiashi replied darkly whilst getting into his juken stance.

Naruto gulped and was hard pressed to dodge Hiashi's 128 palms strike, like, the guy just woke up, what can you expect?

Naruto was wide-eyed at the predicament, he knew he could strike back, but this was Hinata's father she dearly loved so he couldn't do anything but squirm.

Fortunately, Hinata came out and tried to reason with her father.

"Father! Please stop! It's not what you think!" Hinata told him. Hiashi didn't listen to the exact words.

"Stay out of this Hinata! I'm making him pay for taking advantage of you!" Hiashi told her. Hinata knew there was no reasoning with her father like this so she took matters into her own hands.

She activated her Tenseigan without the cloak, then raised her palms before shouting her super-powered attack.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Hinata shouted.

Though it wasn't as strong as the one she used on Naruto yesterday, it was enough to blow Hiashi out of the apartment door and slam right into the building across the courtyard rendering him immobile.

Naruto let out a breath of relief and Hinata apologised for the inconvenience which he waved off. Then they went to go see Hiashi.

Hiashi was still glaring at Naruto as the two walked towards him.

Naruto tried to speak first.

"Listen Hiashi-jiji, nothing hap-" but was cut off.

"Don't lie to me! You dirty little rat! And don't call me old man!" Hiashi yelled.

Naruto just said, "Listen! Sorry, it's early give me a fuckin' break!" in his morning induced state, he had less inhibitions of what he said.

Hinata would have berated Naruto for his language, but given that her father had accused them both of such an 'act' and that she was a little grumpy in the mornings too, she let it slide.

Hinata raised a hand in front of Naruto to let him know she'll do the talking.

"Father… If you won't listen to Naru-kun, then will you listen to me?" she questioned Hiashi who remained silent.

Hinata took this as her que.

"Nothing happened between us, okay? He introduced me to his garden last night and- " Hiashi cut her off with "Garden?" with a surprised look.

Hinata sighed, "Yes Father. His garden, which is the most beautiful one I've ever seen. But back to the topic, he showed me around until we reach a special plant of his and we kissed under the moon. Then we headed inside ate some dinner, played some games and went to sleep wearing matching clothes, that's it!" she ended firmly.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes, "That's all?"

Hinata glared at him with her new darker lavender coloured lotus eyes making Hiashi almost wet himself. Naruto on the other hand, found this intimidating side of Hinata… hot.

"Yes, I don't need to say it again." She said quietly yet firmly and deactivated her Tenseigan.

Hiashi sighed in relief and apologised to Naruto for doubting his control of his hormones. Naruto surprising said.

"It's fine, really! I'm glad that she has a father who's willing to go that far for her safety! Dattebayo!" Naruto reassured.

Hiashi nodded and cleared his throat before saying.

"Well… Now that is out of the way, I don't need to worry about Hinata's whereabouts. But I must remind you to inform someone that you are staying out Hinata." Hiashi said, Hinata nodded and looked down in embarrassment for forgetting something so simple.

Hiashi told her it was fine and Naruto just exclaimed.

"Hey! Don't worry, it's Hinata! No one would dare mess with her!" Making Hiashi struggle to hide a smile and Hinata blush at how Naruto believes she is strong.

Hiashi spoke up, "I see… But I must ask Hinata to return with me to the Compound as she must get ready for tomorrow's journey." Hinata complied and Naruto understood whilst they all said farewell.

* * *

 **With Naruto, walking down the main street**

After parting ways with Hinata and Hiashi, Naruto decided to stop by Ichiraku's for a quick meal of breakfast ramen and inside he saw Sakura, Ino and Chouji all eating inside.

Naruto became excited.

"Yo! What have you guys been up to!?" he cheered.

Sakura greeted back first, "Hey Naruto! Good to see you! We've just been working at the Hospital and the usual rounding up rogues' missions we receive."

Ino went next, "Hello! And yeah, same with me, just selling flowers as usual and trying out new stuff. Nothing much!" she said almost bored.

Chouji looked up from his ramen, "Oh! Naruto! Just eating, what about you? I haven't seen you around that much, I just heard from Ino that you've been with Hinata a lot. Is that true" he asked.

Naruto blushed a bit which made the two girls smirk in excitement.

"Well… you can say that! We just got back yesterday, you can ask Sakura-chan and Ino about that. About me and Hina-chan…" Naruto drew on, Chouji raised their eyebrows at the address of Hinata.

"Hina-chan?" Chouji asked. Naruto scratched his head and said.

"Yeah! Hina-chan! We're pretty much dating now!" Naruto exclaimed with a small blush.

All the occupants of the Ramen stand were shocked at this revelation… Naruto, the most brash and dense guy was in a relationship with Hyuga Hinata, the nicest and most caring girl in all the Nations.

Chouji even stopped eating and congratulated, "Oh! That's great Naruto! We've been waiting for you two to get together!

Ino was squealing about what she can gossip about for the whole week.

Sakura was happy for him and Hinata, they were just meant for each other. For that she offered to pay for his Ramen which he quickly accepted. Teuchi decided to put all his skills into making his ramen and Ayame was happily teasing him about his new relationship.

She pointed out something that they didn't notice before.

"Naruto-otouto~ Why are your clothes so messy? Like you just woke up?" Ayame asked. Naruto looked at himself and paled. How did he forget to change!?

Sakura asked, "Yeah! What happened? You look like you've been in a battle?"

Ino had a smirk and slyly said, "Or a lucky, rough night~" Making Naruto glow red and choke confirming this detail.

Ino and Sakura quickly asked, "Wait! You did!? What did you do? Is it something to do with Hinata?" Chouji slowed down his consumption of his ramen.

Naruto was sputtering and came out with, "Me and and ah, H-Hina-chan wore m-matching clothes and… slept together…" he drew on a bit too long for their taste.

"EHH!" They all shouted.

Ino was saying stuff about already going to third case and Chouji asked how was it, whilst Sakura threatened Naruto if he took advantage of Hinata, he be killed and the ramen owners just stared in shock.

However, Naruto waved their concerns off.

"No, we just slept in the same bed, nothing further other than hugging." Naruto reassured them.

But Sakura and Ino pestered him. "Then why are your clothes so messed up?"

Naruto recapped the events with Hiashi making them all laugh at his predicament.

Sakura finished her laughing fit, "Oh my God! What would Konoha be like without you Naruto?" she randomly asked. Naruto smiled and everyone silently agreed; things would be boring without Naruto.

Whilst they all went on about random topics they could come up with, eventually Naruto had his fill and said his goodbyes.

* * *

 **With Naruto, his apartment**

Once Naruto had stuffed himself, he decided to go back to change into his regular clothes and study the sealing scrolls he got from Uzushiogakure. Usually, he'd have a clone do it, but every now and then, he liked to sit back and just let his imagination run wild with Fuinjutsu.

When Naruto got inside, he went to a certain boring part of his apartment behind his fridge revealing a huge sealing matrix. Naruto touched it and his body was warped into it.

This seal was one of the very few Naruto managed to create from Trial and Error after he finished the fuinjutsu notes he had before his trip to Uzushiogakure. It was a pocket-dimension seal, that was basically a room he created since his apartment wasn't very big and he couldn't be bothered making extensions to his home. This way, he managed to snag many extra hours of studying and invented many new seals without anyone knowing.

Right now, he wanted to finish his current project, the 'Death Realm Communications Seal', after Kakashi banned Naruto's first seal that opened a portal to the world of the dead, he resolved to find a way to make a communications seal like a projection seal in a way you could speak to and if possible touch the person you want to speak to most.

His reason for starting this project was to speak to his parents in the Shinigami's world, but that was half the reason, the other half was for Sasuke's sake as he probably wanted to speak to Itachi and his parents as well.

Yep! Sasuke would brighten up if he got to see his parents too.

Though, Naruto also thought maybe Shikamaru and Ino would love to see their fathers again. And after seeing Hinata burst into tears at seeing Hanako for the first time, maybe he could let Hinata try it out.

So far, Naruto managed to create the realm link function that connected the world of the living and the death by creating a seemly unorganised array of symbols and characters, but the whole thing meant 'Life and Death'. Though at that point, Naruto's progress stopped, however, once Ashura passed on his chakra to Naruto, Naruto universal understanding of chakra exponentially improved to the point it applied to the art of moulding chakra before the concept of Ninja were thought of.

Once he racked his brain, he schemed new possibilities about how the connection between people are now really lost, just transferred to a new form, such as even if his parents are dead, that doesn't mean they aren't watching over him. So, he ended creating a new array with no base that instead of making souls transfer over to the other world, it linked it to the special body that they will speak through not unlike a puppet. The body that will be made was actually a simple solution, once the chakra of the dead person you want to see is found, the seal will cultivate their chakra and make a shadow clone of them rather than a projection like a genjutsu.

After a whole 2 and a half hours, much quicker than Naruto anticipated, he finally finished a working prototype of the 'Dead Realm Communicator Seal'. Now he just needed to use it. He poured his chakra into it and thought, 'Mom and Dad'.

The seal ended glowing a blinding white colour the him cover his eyes. The light ended up fading away. Naruto was blinking his eyes very first and suddenly he heard two 'poofs' in the pocket-dimension.

"What the! Where are we?" a male voice said.

"I don't know, but our son's right in front of us, tebane!" a familiar female voice yelled.

Naruto opened his eyes and was both ecstatic and overwhelmed at the success of his seal and seeing both of his parents.

"Mom! Dad!" Naruto shouted and tackled them into a huge hug.

Minato and Kushina held on and hugged each other in a big group hug.

"Hello Naruto! You've grown much taller! Did you start eating vegetables like your mother said?" Minato inquired.

Naruto embarrassingly scratched the back of his head.

"Ahhh! A little bit…" he admitted. Only to be bobbed on the head by Kushina.

"Son! I told you to eat lots of vegetables and not be picky! Dattebane!" she scolded him. Naruto winced but was happy for being scolded for some reason.

Minato laughed a little and sweat dropped.

"Now now Kushina, he probably ate well, just look at him, he's taller than we ever were, almost as tall as that Kumo nin I fought during the war." Minato saved. Naruto smiled in pride.

Kushina looked at him and grinned much like Naruto.

"Wow! You grew! Must be them Uzumaki genes! So, how's everything going? How's your studies for Hokage going? Your friends? Oh yeah! How's little Sasuke-chan and Hikari's daughter Hinata? Dattebane!" Kushina quickly asked him questions in excitement making Minato smile at his wife's antics; she never made things boring.

Naruto grinned and told her that he is going fine, he found out that he will finish his Jounin studies really quickly to the point even Iruka-sensei needed more time to prepare new lessons for things meant to be taught in the next two years, not crammed into a year making Kushina and Minato proud of Naruto's learning ability.

Naruto got to his friends, "My friends are all doing well! Though Sasuke he feels guilty for what he's done and went on a literal guilt trip! Tebayo!" he exclaimed making Minato and Kushina laugh to their hearts content.

Then Kushina asked what did Sasuke do. Naruto recapped Sasuke's time as a missing nin before being reinstated as a Konoha ninja again making Kushina smile sadly and Minato put a hand on both their shoulders to tell them everything is all good.

Then Kushina grinned mischievously.

"So… what about Hinata? How's things going on with Hiashi's little girl?" she asked. Both parents were amused when they saw Naruto blush.

"W-Well… Hina-chan and I are officially dating! Dattebayo! Can't believe someone like her would actually love me more than a friend…" Naruto told them. Kushina and Minato had stars in their eyes.

Minato asked, "So can we meet her?" Kushina was pumping her fist in the air chanting "Let me measure her!" with wiggling fingers.

Naruto waved that request off.

"Not yet! I want to show you, dattebayo! She so beautiful to the point you can't call her a girl! She an angel! Dattebayo! And I'm haven't even gotten to her looks yet! She's like the night sky with full moons for eyes and her hair is like the night! Yet her smiles warm my heart more than the sun's ray will ever warm skin! Dattebayo!" Naruto described her.

Minato and Kushina were happy for him that Naruto found a girl he wants to be with for the rest of his life.

"She sounds lovely Naruto, I really do hope we can meet her." Minato said. Naruto gave him a thumps-up to promise he'll introduce her to them.

Kushina then asked, "Son… how are we here?" making Minato remember that their son was alive.

"Yeah, what did you do Naruto? You didn't you one of the Uzumaki temple's masks, did you?" Minato gave Naruto a scrutinising look.

Naruto waved their concerns off.

"No, I haven't visited the temple yet! I just created a new seal called the 'Dead Realm Communcator Seal', which links the dead's souls to the Shadow clone body in the world of the living allowing people to speak to the dead." Naruto explained.

Minato and Kushina were so proud of their son for surpassing them both in the family's art of Fuinjutsu and congratulated him.

Though Minato and Kushina then asked, "So, how long does this last?"

Naruto thought a bit and said, "Not sure, it may depend of the amount of chakra I pumped into the seal, it's already been an hour. Man, I can't wait to show my friends this seal! Tebayo!"

Minato stopped him in his tracks, "Son! I know you have good intentions, but this seal you made shouldn't be used by just anyone. Who knows if someone wants to summon someone who has a vengeance against someone and then goes on a killing spree." He warned and Kushina agreed.

Naruto saw what they meant and told them, "Yeah, that's why I made sure that only someone with bijuu level reserves can activate this seal. Not only that, you can't combine chakras to bypass that, it must be only one chakra signal using Bijuu level amounts and for good measure, only people I allow can activate it. So even if someone with that must chakra exist, if he wasn't allowed in the seal in the first place, then they'd just be wasting chakra"

Minato and Kushina sighed in relief.

"That's great Son! You make the Uzumaki name proud! Tebane! But maybe you should add a bit more security features to your seal so no one reverse engineers it." Kushina advised.

Naruto nodded.

They talked about everything that's been going on and some comedic family talk and what not. Eventually, Minato and Kushina felt their chakra wavering.

"3 hours, looks like you used enough chakra to bring us here for that long Naruto." Minato told him.

Naruto nodded.

Kushina smiled at him, "Don't worry son. With your seal, you can probably summon us whenever you want to! Just not constantly okay!" she said.

Naruto laughed and said, "Oi! I'm anything but bothersome, I know when to give other personal space!"

Making the family laugh once more before saying goodbye.

"Goodbye Naruto" Minato said before poofing out of existence.

"Seeya later Naruto!" Kushina said before her clone body went disappeared out of existence.

Naruto stood there in the middle of his pocket dimension for a while letting it all sink in before breathing in and heading out.

* * *

 **Back in the real apartment**

Once Naruto exited his pocket-dimension seal, he saw that only an hour passed whilst he was in there and moved the fridge back in place.

He thought about making the seal slow down time even more when he was in there.

He looked out his apartment window and saw that the sun was setting, meaning maybe he could visit Ichiraku's or hang out with Shikamaru and Chouji at the BBQ place.

Whilst he subconsciously opened his door, he saw Tenten about to knock on his door.

"Yo Tenten! What are you doing here!?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

"Hiya Naruto! Well, I'm here to ask if you wanted to hang out with the group at the BBQ place?" Tenten asked.

Naruto nodded excitedly, "I was just thinking about going there! Dattebayo!" he exclaimed.

Tenten laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Well that's that! Anyway, I'm also here for something else…" she slowed down.

Naruto looked at her blankly.

"Where the hell is my shipment of seals!? Didn't you remember that that I ordered a batch of homing seals that I wanted to put on my weapons!?" Tenten scolded. Naruto sweat dropped, he honestly forgot, and he didn't tell her about his mission to Uzushiogakure.

"Well… Hina-chan and I got appointed a mission that took 4 days and I wanted to put those homing seals on a bunch of Kunai first, so I can see if it actually works! Dattebayo!" Naruto half lied. Tenten bought this.

"Oh, I see… That's thoughtful, testing it out before giving them to me." She beamed. Naruto let out a breath until…

"So… Hina-chan! Ay!" Tenten teased slyly. Naruto went red.

"Ah! Me and Hinata are dating now! Dattebayo!" he exclaimed slightly embarrassed.

Tenten was happily asking questions about how it happened, but Naruto told her he'd say more at the group meet up. In reality, he wasn't going to mention how he saw Hinata naked again and her kissing her ancestor.

* * *

 **Meanwhile with Hinata**

In her bedroom bath, she decided to sleep in her bathtub due to the heat and fatigue of getting ready for tomorrow. She was getting cleaned up for the group meet up at the BBQ place.

However as soon as she went to sleep, she ended up in her mindscape with her ancestor Hanako just as naked and wet as she was awaiting her for her 'lessons' in pleasing her Naruto.

Hanako purred, "Hinata! It's time to show you this trick I used on Ashura one time after we died. It sent him into overdrive…"

Hinata paled in fear, "No! Please not today! I need to get ready for the meet up Mother!"

Hanako chuckled, "Don't worry, time is faster in your mind than it is outside." She reasoned.

Hinata thought to herself, 'Please don't let this be as bad as last time!" Remembering all the other events where Hanako taught her how to use her chest and thighs to please a shadow clone copy of Naruto.

Okay, she was enjoying this a bit, but still…

* * *

 **With Naruto at the BBQ place**

Naruto arrived at the place with Tenten telling him to hurry. As they were walking, he remembered Hinata telling him that Tenten had a crush on Neji which made him wonder if he should let Tenten use his recently completed 'Dead Realm Communicator' Seal.

As they arrived, they saw Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Kiba and Shino awaiting them all seated.

Sakura and Ino were of course next to each other with Chouji next to Ino. Of course, Kiba was next to Shino trying to get him to talk.

Naruto cheered "Yo! Everybody how's it going!?" immediately making everyone lighten up at his bright and warm aura.

Sakura went first, "Hello again Naruto!" patting a seat in front of her which he took with Tenten on her own for now.

"Huh!? Lee isn't here yet?" Tenten asked.

Ino's eyes twinkled, "Yeah he isn't… What? Do you want to see him and his spandex clad body that badly Tenten?" she tittered making Tenten grow a tick mark.

"No! I want to see him since he's my best friend, but he's been so busy training that work gets boring!" Tenten argued. They all understood.

"Heck! Naruto's visiting my store is the only thing exciting that's happened all week!" Tenten put out making everyone look at her.

Sakura asked, "For what exactly?" Kiba and Shino were giving Naruto weird looks which Naruto waved off goofily making them relax.

Tenten beamed, "Naruto's seals are amazing! Ever since he started doing business with my family's store, sales have been going up like crazy! Heck people from all over the Five Nations come to visit my store just to get one of his storage seals!" making them go wide-eyed at Naruto who had the decency to sheepishly grin.

Kiba went first, "Oi! Oi! Your telling me the dead-last of our class makes world renowned seals now!?" he jokingly said.

However, Tenten nodded, "Exactly! Sealing clans and business, famous ones like the Suna school even, from around the Five Nations even visit me asking me for the sealing methods and formulas to add to their libraries, but I disappoint them saying they I didn't make them and that the seal master made it clear to keep it private!" she laughed out. Oblivious to the jaws on the table, including Naruto.

Shino spoke up, "So what you're saying is, that even the best sealing specialists in the world are eager to know how his seals are made because they are brand new." He said.

Tenten then went on to continue about it, "Not just new, Naruto's seals are so good to the point that even the most promising sealing practitioners couldn't even reverse engineer it let alone make a seal that could even get close to Naruto's level of Fuinjutsu skills."

Everyone looked at Naruto with a newfound level of respect and admiration.

Sakura said, "Wow Naruto! I didn't think out of all studies you'd be good at, it'd be Fuinjutsu! You must be smarter than everyone gave you credit for!" making Naruto blush at the compliments, a rare thins for the usually confident blonde.

Naruto then just modestly said, "Well… maybe it's one of those things that I can actually be good it! Dattebayo! Just needs a little imagination!" making everyone feel dumber, since the former dead-last of their class finds the world's hardest study in Shinobi education easy.

Then as soon as the food came Lee popped in.

"Hello everyone! Sorry I'm late! I just ran here from fanning my flames of youth and I didn't get here fast enough, for that I'll do 50 000 Alternating pushing on each side!" he exclaimed. Everyone sweat dropped at his suggestion, however Tenten sighed but happily.

Tenten then told him, "If you're going to do that Lee, you gotta eat to get the energy first." Lee understood and sat right next to Tenten whilst going on about making his flames burn hotter.

He then asked Naruto, "Oh! Naruto-kun! I want to spar you tomorrow, this time I believe my youth flames will burn hotter than yours!" he exclaimed.

Naruto grinned and told him, "Sorry I can't, I got a mission that starts tomorrow." Lee understood and asked next time. Though Sakura had to ask.

"You have a mission tomorrow? What for? When is it going to finish?"

Naruto replied, "Yeah! I'm going to Iwa! Dattebayo! Not only that… but for about 8 months!" getting looks of shock from everyone.

Naruto then remembered something, "Oh yeah! Shikamaru is going to be there! I'll say 'Hi' to him for you guys alright?" he gestured to Ino and Chouji who thanked him.

Then the last person came dressed up in a bulky pink shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt and a long golden dress. The person wearing this had long indigo hair done in twirls at the end down her back and her bangs framing her face as usual. This was Hyuga Hinata, wearing bulkier clothes as her figure became more curvaceous and harder to hide with her usual baggy purple jacket and blue pants.

Naruto's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He shot up like he Hiraishin'd his way in front of her making her jump. But Naruto hugged her by the waist.

"You're here Hina-chan!" Naruto said in glee. Kiba and Shino who didn't hear about his raised their eyebrows, whereas Lee's eyes had fire in them and Tenten was curious at the address.

It became even more interesting when Hinata replied.

"Yes, I am Naru-kun! Did you miss me that much?" she teased shocking even her teammates. They all thought when did she tease people?

Naruto made a false sad face making her giggle. Then Naruto lead her to their table, but there wasn't any space except for the spot Naruto sat on. He quickly found the solution by making Hinata sit on his lap sporting a small blush due to the position, to everyone's amusement.

Kiba asked, "Alright! When did you two get together?" with Shino paying attention.

Naruto told them just before their mission to Uzushiogakure leaving out the naked incident.

They accepted it and dug in.

Everyone was having fun, especially Naruto and Hinata playfully feeding each other which made Ino and Sakura jealous since Hinata was the youngest girl in their generation, so it was unfair that she got her man first.

As all the food soon ran out and everyone still hasn't had their fill of entertainment. Lee burst out and shouted.

"Yosh! Let's all go Karaoke!" Everyone agreed.

That night, was a night everyone wouldn't forget.

* * *

 **The next day**

Naruto can be seen up at 6:00AM next to 4 crates full of Tenten's order and he was now currently making finishing touches to his 'Dead Realm Communicator Seal'. Once he was done, he saved the entire formula into symbol for 'Connection' and put it into the storage seal on his right palm.

The way this storage seal worked was similar to how a smartphone works. Except, all he needed to do was tilt his hand in a direction then it'd go back to the previous seal he stored or the next. This wasn't just limited to his right arm, it could also be moved to his left by simply willing it to appear on his other arm. Not only that, this 'Smart Storage' Seal only activated and reacted to him, sought of like a blood seal.

Once that was done, he decided to walk out and enjoy the morning sun without anyone walking around. He still had a good 2 hours before he had to be at the gates with Hiashi and Hinata.

Along the way as he walked, he dropped off Tenten's order of homing seals and continued for a while.

Naruto was pondering about his skills and prowess, it was much greater than before, he had enough strength to protect the Village 100 times over, but it still wasn't enough! He needed to get stronger, so he could protect the entire world 100 times over! He had friends all over the world, even if he didn't know all of them, he loved the entire world more than anything, so he considered them his family which he would protect no matter what.

He was glad he had his precious people; his senseis, important figures, his classmates and most of all, Hinata, the one who subconsciously makes him feel like nothing is impossible by just being there with him and in turn, makes him a better him, much like he does for her.

They didn't just give each other strength, they gave each other a reason to find their strength and improve upon it.

But back to his abilities, he understood how chakra worked inside and out due to the Six Paths Chakra. He knew how to use all elements, how chakra worked and all that. However, was still fixated on Yang release; he finally figured out how to train in just Yang solely and that was through growing plants!

He hypothesised that if he gathered Yang chakra before moulding it into Earth and Water, he could potentially pull off the wood release. As he thought this, he arrived at Team 7's old training ground and looked around in nostalgia before getting himself back on track.

He did exactly what Yamato-taichou did when he demonstrated his wood release. Though, this time, Naruto first built up Yang chakra beforehand. Once that was done he began mumbling.

"Earth with my left and water in my right" before slamming his hands together.

He then shouted, "Yang art: Birth of the Spring Season!" Slowly, the ground was cracking shaking the ground making Konoha shake.

Then something miraculous happened… a giant tree rose out of the ground which bloomed enormous flowers which spread its pollen everywhere making lilies, sunflowers and wildflowers grow out of the ground at an accelerated rate.

Naruto looked around with a proud smirk.

He figured out how the Wood Release works!

Naruto then thought, 'So that's why no one could replicate the Wood release naturally even if you did have both natural affinities for Earth and Water. Yang chakra, or release is needed to be used as well so they have a lifeforce to grow from. Without it… you just get mud.'

Naruto looked at the Sun and noted that he needed to head back to the Village gates where Hiashi and his family were waiting.

* * *

 **At the Village gates**

When Naruto arrived, he saw Hiashi and his usual escort including Ko there with him. He saw Hanabi by his side most likely because Hiashi was going to teach her. However, what he saw next bedazzled him.

Hinata was there with her long her done in a messy bun with a floral hair piece; one Naruto got for her at one point during their mission to Uzushiogakure. Her face still didn't have any make-up, but she looked beautiful none the less. She was wearing a larger than normal Kimono which was sky-blue and wore a lavender sash to bind it at the waist and simple traditional Japanese sandals.

Their eyes met, and Naruto woke himself up to him kissing her much to Hiashi's displeasure.

"Naruto… I would ask you not to do that so early in the morning." Hiashi warned him. Naruto and Hinata quickly separated and blushed.

Hanabi was trying not to puke and said, "Ew! Why do you guys even like doing that!?"

Hinata giggled and replied "Don't worry, you'll be doing this pretty soon when you get older…" she joked. Hanabi's eyes widened in horror and exclaimed "No way!"

Naruto was cracking up and Hiashi was amused with the scene, but managed not to smile and maintain his mask.

Hiashi then said, "Come along now! We must get going." They all nodded and followed.

Naruto then asked, "Oi Hinata! Whilst we're at it, do you want to grow some plants?" he asked cheerfully.

Hanabi and Hiashi looked at him like he was crazy. Hinata agreed to it making them think 'How?'

Naruto summoned two pots holding yet-to-be-grown flowers and handed one to Hinata.

Naruto said in his usual voice, "Yang art: Nurturing Care" and his flower fully bloomed eliciting a huge gasp from everyone except he and Hinata who just looked in awe.

Hinata went next, but her one just grew when it started to bud. She pouted but Naruto reassured her that she is doing well, that she is amazing for getting this really quickly. Hinata felt warm inside due to Naruto's genuine belief in her.

Naruto asked her, "Do you need me to explain Yang release again?"

Hinata looked at Naruto examining him even. She just replied "No, that's fine, you already made me remember." Making Naruto tilt his head in confusion.

They both went back to making their flowers bloom with only their chakra.

Hiashi observed them and allowed himself a smile.

'I see… Naruto, you don't need to explain what Yang is… because that is what you are! You are Hinata's light, her inspiration, her source of encouragement. Hinata once had been driven into darkness, but when you came into her life, you gave her light. If Yang breathes life into a soulless form, then you Naruto give Hinata her happiness.' Hiashi thought.

The Path of Yang begins now…

* * *

 **My theories are used quite a lot in this one. Let's list them off.**

 **Wood Release: Wood release is kind of an odd one, if Earth and Water release were really all you needed to be born with naturally, then a lot of people would have been able to use it, especially Iwa ninja. Instead on Hashirama had it naturally. I concluded it was due to Hashirama's naturally high lifeforce that was mixed with his chakra causing the growth of nature. This lifeforce is only surpassed by Naruto, or an Otsutsuki, so I figured with naruto nearing his intelligence he has during the Last and his universal understanding of chakra, he'd figure it out eventually and replicate it naturally.**

 **Yang Release: This was never touched on too much in the canon, so I believed that Yang chakra was mostly used for vitality; endurance and physical energy. So training your body increases your Yang chakra, even it it's not much, Yang chakra is more potent and results in larger gains in chakra reserves as Naruto, Hashirama and Kushina have shown. If I had to think of a training method for using Yang release, it'd definitely be growing plants using only chakra with the image of a seedling growing to full bloom. Other ways I believe Yang could be used is near instantaneous self-regeneration and enhancing the quality of an object (Naruto's old swords which you'll never see again due to getting Ashura's swords).**

 **Fuinjutsu: Fuinjutsu is of course the hardest one to learn, I know it takes brains, but I never actually see the super smart people use it. I've noticed it's the dumber guys who are often Seal Masters; Jiraiya and Kushina. Sure Minato was an exception, but he had a lot of ideas to experiment with. Fuinjutsu is said to be older that even Ninshu, so it's the original way of molding chakra. I made Naruto OP in Fuinjutsu due to him being able to soak up information like a sponge and being even more creative as his pranks have shown.**

* * *

 **Omake: Karaoke Time**

 **When Lee mae everyone go to the Karaoke bar, everyone had a shot at singing. Ino was surprisingly a decent singer, Sakura was plain horrible, Kiba and Shino made everyone laugh Tenten was okay and Lee was just loud. The only ones who didn't sing yet were Naruto and Hinata.**

 **Naruto and Hinata were still snickering at Kiba and Shino's singing performance, that Kiba yelled in frustration.**

 **"Oh yeah! You get up and sing Naruto if you're so good!" Kiba yelled. Everyone cheered Naruto to get up and he made his way sheepishly scratching his head.**

 **Sakura leaned towards Hinata, "Hey Hinata! Even if Naruto doesn't have a good voice, he's still a good guy!" she whispered and Kiba was hoping that Naruto was a bad singer and listened as well.**

 **Lee shouted, "Oi! Naruto-kun! Sing your heart to Hinata-san and sing about how much you love her!" making everyone cheer and Hinata blush.**

 **She then replied to Sakura and Kiba, "You guys have nothing to worry about! He's surprising good at singing!" making Sakura and Kiba look at Naruto in disbelief, they though, 'No way!'**

 **Song name: 'You and I' written by SoulsVeteran**

 **Ooh! Woah! Oh Oooh! Oh woohoohoo~**

 **I can... not believe that you and me~**

 **Are meant to be~ Creating unity~**

 **Friends to a Fa-mil-ly~ Hehe~**

 **This is our love story of 'You and I'**

 **Chorus**

 **'You and I' x 2**

 **Stand by my side~**

 **Together even when we die~**

 **Our hearts are where we reside~**

 **This is our story of 'You and I'~**

 **Chorus end**

 ***Breathes***

 **Whenever I'm around you,**

 **I always get so happy,**

 **My life shoots up through the roof!**

 **Especially...**

 **When you smile~**

 **It makes my heart leap a thousand miles!**

 **I'll always love you even when I become senile!**

 **This is our love story! OF! 'You and I'~**

 **Chorus**

 **'You and I' x 2**

 **Stand by my side~**

 **Together even when we die~**

 **Our hearts are where we reside~**

 **This is our story of 'You and I'~**

 **Chorus end**

 **Song end**

 **Naruto finishes singing and kisses Hinata wholeheartedly and Hinata melted in easily.**

 **Everyone gave a huge round of applause for them. Both for their kiss and Naruto.**

 **Sakura and Ino were talking to each other, "When could Naruto sing?" Ino asked. Sakura just responded, "I don't know..."**

 **Kiba was no longer salty about Naruto being a good singer as the song her sang was pretty damn good. (Shameless)**

 **Shino was surprised as well and actually showed it when he moved his sunglasses.**

 **Tenten and Lee were just dancing around.**

 **They all remembered that night well.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Finally got this out... and I'm not too proud of it.**

 **I couldn't fit any of the usual action or fluffiness in like in my other chapters. I saw this as more of a way to show other aspects of Naruto other than Shinobi stuff and Jutsu.**

 **But instead, I added in some SasuSaku action and Sasuke's new abilties because it's not fair if only Naruto got to meet his ancestor.**

 **Anyway enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Yang – Living to its fullest**

Naruto and Hinata along with her father, Hiashi, younger sister Hanabi, her carer Ko and personal guards were three days into their journey to Iwa. So, it was Friday.

Nothing of substance occurred during those three days other than Naruto asking why they didn't bother to wear their mission gear and keep their formal clothing in their bags, or storage scrolls so they could arrive faster.

Hiashi smoothly responded with.

"I told you before, we must keep ourselves presentable from start to finish as an honorable clan." Whilst perfectly hiding the gobsmacked face he almost let slip due to not thinking of that before.

Naruto accepted this and asked if it was okay for his guards to see Hinata's Tenseigan. Hiashi assured him they can be trusted.

To entertain themselves, Naruto and Hinata just kept growing plants using only their chakra to train their Yang Release.

With Hinata showing drastic improvement, being able to fully mature a pot flower. Whereas Naruto, managed to find a way to change the seeds' structure before growing it via Yin-Yang Release; like how he reconstructed Kakashi's eye, he instead rearranged this molecular structure of the seed to grow what he wanted. He first used Kurama's Yin chakra to change the properties then experimented with Yang chakra potency and volume to see what happens.

Hiashi and Hanabi along with their escorts were fascinated by what plants he was conjuring.

During their fourth day, Saturday, of travel, whilst Naruto and Hinata were training their Yang release. The group began to become quite hungry, however, their rations were exhausted and there were no nearby pitstops in the vicinity. Hunting and gathering food was their only options.

However, Hinata and Hiashi weren't equipped for that and his guards were to be frank, could gather the food, but weren't confident in their cooking skills. Hanabi was of course pampered.

Which left Naruto, the one who since a young age before he entered the academy, had often ventured out in the forest of Konoha and taught himself how to gather food in the wild.

"Don't worry, I'll round something up, tebayo! Hey, Ko-san! Can you use your Byakugan to see if there are any nearby water sources and areas where a lot of animals are!?" Naruto asked him.

Ko nodded, albeit a little miffed. Nowadays, Hyuga Ko highly respects Naruto for who he is and what he has done. But still found himself uncomfortable around him due to how he had treated him in the past and how he always used to tell Naruto to stay away from Hinata.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, Naruto 6 years old**_

 _A little Naruto was walking out the Academy entrance until he spotted a mop of short indigo hair that was very familiar to him._

 _He scanned his memory and remembered two events in his life._

 _A snowy day when he saw a girl his age dressed in a black kimono and he helped her find her way home._

 _Then, another day a few years later, on another snowy day, when he tried to help that girl again from three bullies. Only he got beat up, to his disappointment, and he thought hers too._

 _He grinned in delight, it was that same girl he felt connected too for some odd reason. He approached that girl near the gate and shouted a greeting to her._

" _Yo!" he exclaimed, making Hinata shoot up in surprise and look his way. She blushed a bit as she was beginning to crush on the boy who always came to her rescue._

 _She shyly acknowledged his greeting and said._

" _H-Hello N-Na-Naruto-san…" she greeted back._

 _Naruto was beaming, a person greeted him with respect and… care, not the usual cold shoulder. So, he thought, maybe he'd finally have a real friend, not a strange acquaintance like he had with Chouji and Shikamaru._

" _Wow! You're really quiet… What's your name, tebayo?" he asked._

 _Hinata looked down in embarrassment._

" _Um… H—Hyuga Hinata, i-i-is m-m-me b-being q-quiet, b-b-bad?" she asked._

 _Naruto looked at her like she was crazy, making her think the worst until he laughed._

" _HAHAHA! How is being quiet bad! Dattebayo! No, it's weird, but I like it! Dattebayo!" he told her._

 _Hinata looked stunned, the boy she admired likes her timid nature._

" _Y-y-y-you don't m-m-mind?" she asked in disbelief. Naruto grinned._

" _Yeah! It's actually really nice! Like your eyes, tebayo!" he said shocking her again._

" _Y-you t-t-think my e-e-eyes are nice? N-not c-c-creepy?" Hinata asked._

 _Naruto nodded._

" _Yeah, they kind of look like the moon, which I like looking at because it's so pretty, dattebayo! Unlike the creepy white eyed people, yours are a nice purple!" He said. Hinata blushed at the fact that someone called her eyes pretty… not because she was a Hyuga, but because they found her eyes and her eyes only to be pretty._

" _T-Thank y-y-you, Na-Naruto-san, th-that's v-v-very nice o-of you" Hinata thanked with a small, but genuine smile._

 _Unknown to her, little Naruto was taken by how she looked with her pearly lavender orbs, creamy complexion and now, that blissful smile on her face._

 _He thought to himself, 'Wow… she's pretty…" then he took a deep breath._

" _Say… Do you want to be my friend, tebayo?" he asked with a faint blush on his cheeks._

 _Hinata was surprised, he wanted to her to be his friend!_

 _Hinata then nodded frantically, much to Naruto's happiness._

 _Naruto then said._

" _Alright! You're my friend! So, can I ask why you're still here? Aren't you going to go home?" he asked._

 _Hinata told him, "Um… M-My e-e-escort i-isn't h-here yet. He u-u-usually i-isn't this l-l-late."_

 _Naruto then brightened up even more and insisted._

" _Yosh! How about I take you to where your home is like last time, tebayo!?" Naruto said_

 _Hinata was shocked, Naruto remembered their first meeting. But not wanting to let this chance slip. She wholeheartedly agreed._

 _Naruto was beaming, he was finally going to have a real friend. However, as he was going to reach for Hinata's hand._

 _Someone pulled her away from him._

" _Hinata-sama! What are you doing around this – this… boy!" Hyuga Ko questioned._

 _Hinata stammered and told him, "Ah… K-Ko-san, th-this i-is Naruto. He j-just a-asked me t-t-to be his friend."_

 _Ko looked shocked and looked at Naruto disgusted._

 _He then told Hinata._

" _Stay away from this urchin! He'll hurt you!" he warned her. Hinata then shook her head trying to say that Naruto isn't like that._

 _But to no avail._

 _Naruto on the other hand, was furious. He was going to make a friend for once, he wasn't going to let this chance slip by._

" _Oi! Who are you to tell her who she can hang out with!? What's the big deal anyway, dattebayo!?" Naruto argued._

 _Ko then spat at him with words that cut deep into Naruto's hear for a majority of his life._

" _Someone like you will never even be worthy of looking at Hinata-sama…" Ko said darkly before dragging an apologetic Hinata away from the emotionally scarred boy._

 _Naruto then stood there shell-shocked, watching Hinata, his first real friend who he finally found after all these years, being taken away from him by another bully he couldn't protect her from._

 _Naruto then went ran home and skipped the Academy the next day, too saddened by the event to face the world._

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

Ko as requested activated his Byakugan and after a few minutes, spotted a stream only roughly a kilometre away in the forest and a small area where many animals were gathering.

"Naruto-san! There's a stream about a 100 metres east of here and a gathering of animals close to it." Ko informed.

Naruto grinned and shouted "Thanks!".

Naruto and two of Hiashi's guards went with him to go catch some fish and other livestock along with anything else.

Whilst Hiashi, his two other guards, Ko, Hanabi and Hinata were waiting. Hanabi was asking her older sister for all the details about what had happened during her mission to the Whirlpool Village and what she got from it.

Hinata told her about the meeting of Karin, who turned out to be Naruto's cousin sparking the curiosity of Hiashi and his guards because to their knowledge, there weren't any other Uzumaki around besides him or the ones who left the Shinobi Nations.

This apparently got Hanabi even more excited as it was known that Naruto had no known relatives.

Hanabi asked, "Big Sis! So, what is this Karin girl like!?"

Hinata blushed, "Well… she doesn't take criticism from anyone that's for sure…" she said.

Hanabi got even more pumped up and asked, "How so?"

Hinata then chuckled a bit and said.

"Well… Naru-kun said something kind of… rude and Karin-san used a strange chakra chain to hit him in his… groin" she ended with a heavy blush.

This set off Hanabi due to the image of the hero of the war being hit in his crotch. Even Hiashi and his two guards with Ko were trying their best not to smirk.

 **With Naruto**

Naruto had the two Hyuga guards go to where the animals were gathering with the instruction of killing something big. Naruto sent them off with a shadow clone whilst he went to the stream.

As he got to the stream, he soaked in the sight of the glistening water flowing down rocks along with plenty of fish swimming down.

He placed a storage scroll on the ground by the stream before he stripped down to his boarding shorts and stood in the water.

Using his Sage patience and Ninshu mastery, he felt the feel of nature all around him causing him to relax and relish the bountiful natural energy all around him.

Then he felt the unique chakra signals coming from the fish, using his skills he grabbed the fish and chucked them into the storage seal as if he was firing a mortar. After grabbing about 15 fish, he was satisfied with the amount before going to check up on the other two.

The Hyuga Guards and his clone were holding a basket of herbs, wild vegetables (black carrots, radishes and leaves), wild grown spices and 4 turkeys. Along with some fallen chestnuts as a snack for everyone.

Satisfied with this amount, they went back to the rest of the group with the spoils.

As Naruto came into the view of Hiashi, his two guards, Ko, Hanabi and Hinata. He saw that the girls were laughing at him whilst the others were barely smirking.

Naruto frowned.

"Okay! What's on my face, tebayo!?" Naruto asked.

Hanabi then asked, "Hey Big Bro! Is it true you have a cousin named Karin?"

Naruto grinned and replied, "Oh Karin-nee? Yeah! We're from the same Clan, so that makes us cousins, tebayo! Why did you ask?"

Hanabi then chuckled, "So, is it true she hit you in the nuts with a chain?"

Naruto flushed in embarrassment confirming this detail.

He looked towards Hinata with a pout.

"Hina-chan! Did you tell them about that!?" he comically yelled.

Hinata just giggled making Naruto then pout further.

"No! Now my dignity is gone…" he exclaimed.

Hinata and Hanabi began to laugh loudly at Naruto's comical display. Even Hiashi, his guards and Ko snickered a bit.

Hinata then told him.

"Don't worry Naru-kun! I'll make it up to you." She assured him.

Then Naruto suddenly had stars in his eyes.

"Really!? Then to start off…" Naruto paused.

He pulled out his storage scroll then laid it upon the ground and summoned forth an outdoor BBQ set with pots and other cooking utilities along with all the 15 fish he caught.

All the Hyuga looked as if they had their Byakugan activated at the sight in disbelieve that Naruto somehow summoned a fully decked out BBQ set for travelling

Naruto exclaimed dramatically, "Make me some of your heavenly cooking, dattebayo!"

Whereas Hinata was just in love with the cooking equipment, she gazed upon everything that was there and couldn't wait to try out all the things that were there. It wasn't every day you could cook outdoors with a BBQ set like that.

Hinata with unexpected enthusiasm said a little louder than her usual soft replies.

"Yes Naru-kun! I'll get to cooking right away!" Hinata replied whilst tying up her hair in a white chef cloth and apron.

Everyone was wondering, 'Where did she get those?" except Naruto who grinned in a foxy manner at one of the few tricks Naruto showed her whilst at his apartment; the art of pulling shit out of your ass when least expected.

As Hinata was cooking with Naruto handling the preparations, the guards and Hiashi were resting under a well shaded tree, whilst Hanabi was watching her older sister and Naruto cook their lunch in fascination. Even more so than usual as due to discovering that Naruto could indeed cook.

Hanabi fired off a question to him, "Oi! Big Bro! When did you know how to cook!?"

Hinata who caught the undertone of her question which was, 'You can cook?' lightly glared at her younger sister for the lack of faith in her boyfriend. However, Naruto didn't get that message and replied happily.

"Oh! Well, since I was five…" he told Hanabi who's eyes resembled tennis balls.

Hanabi was in disbelief, she had seen Naruto a couple of times and went so far as to test his worthiness for her sister. And… the impression she had of him was that he was a lazy slob, not an independent man who could work the house.

"That young! But… but, then who taught you how to take care of yourself?" Hanabi asked. Hinata didn't stop her sister from being curious as she too wanted to know how Naruto came to learn how to look after himself.

Naruto grinned whilst he finally finished gutting the fish and turkeys.

"Well… at first it was the Old Man Hokage who taught me how to use the basic appliances, but then it was mostly the Anbu who still weren't around that often. I guess I learnt how to take care of myself from that nice, pretty lady who used to visit me once a week until the Uchiha Massacre happened…" he recalled.

Hanabi and Hinata listened intently, though, the latter being envious of the fact Naruto called another woman pretty, however, reminded herself of the age difference.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, 5 years old Naruto**_

 _One late afternoon, Naruto found himself wondering the streets of Konoha trying his best to not give in to the stares he got from the villagers._

 _After almost being physically abused once, Hiruzen made sure that Naruto wouldn't have to go through that experience again. But that didn't stop the isolation and the contempt held against him._

 _While he was walking towards the only general store that sold Naruto decent quality produce for a fair price. He accidentally bumped into someone and began apologising rapidly._

" _AHH! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, dattebayo!" he apologised._

 _However, instead of a voice full of malice directed at him, it was a sweet, soothing and caring melody of a chuckle that he heard._

' _That voice!? I heard it somewhere before back in the orphanage…" Naruto thought._

 _Naruto in surprise, looked up slowly only to see the most beautiful lady he had laid eyes on._

 _She was fairly short, at about 160cm, but had a slender, defined form underneath her pink blouse, black dress skirt all under a white apron and wore white high-heels. She had flawless glowing, pale skin that contrasted with her black raven hair that framed her heart-shaped face, that if one looked closely enough, they'd see it was dark navy and charcoal black eyes gleaming in delight._

 _She gave Naruto a small, yet kind smile and told him, "It's okay Naruto-kun, you didn't mean it."_

 _Naruto, in shock that this lady knew his name and better yet, he knew who this lady was._

" _Whoa! You're the nice pretty lady who used to visit me when I was in the orphanage, dattebayo!" he exclaimed with his eyes near closed._

 _If Naruto wasn't squinting his eyes, he would have seen the lady freeze the moment he had said his catchphrase._

 _Naruto then said, "By the way, I don't know your name… sorry if I forgot…"_

 _However, the lady recovered and told him._

" _It's okay, you were very little back then. I forgot to introduce myself first. I'm Mikoto Uchiha. Other than that, what are you doing now?" she asked curiously._

 _Young Naruto beamed and told her, "Oh yeah! Jiji gave me an apartment to live in since I can't stay at the orphanage anymore! So, I'm going to be living on my own from now on…" he ended losing his happy tone._

 _Mikoto was shocked that her best friend's son already had to live on their own by themselves. No one, not even those Kumo bastards who tried to kidnap her friend, should be living alone at this age. She knew she couldn't change his life but could instead make it easier for him._

 _She offered him, "Naruto-kun, is it okay if I come with you and show you how to take care of yourself in your new apartment? I'll come along every Saturday to check on you!"_

 _Naruto's eyes lit up, "You mean it, Mikoto-obachan!? Alright, tebayo!"_

 _Mikoto chuckled at his enthusiasm._

 _Ever since then, Naruto had been taught many housekeeping lessons until the Uchiha incident._

 _ **Flashback end**_

* * *

"… she taught me everything about how to take care of myself. From organising items in the pantry, keeping my fridge clean, as well as my entire apartment… um… how to read and of course how to cook! Tebayo!" Naruto ended his reminiscing.

Hanabi was struck by this story, she never knew that her sister's boyfriend had such a hard life yet came out so bright and warm. She began to realise why her older sister loves Naruto so much; he never let his past mistakes and mishaps dictate his life. He always found a way to make it better and the most out of very little.

Hinata had finished grilling the fish fillets that Naruto had prepared along with the vegetables that cooked along side it. She was about to begin seasoning the turkeys until Naruto talked about the lady named Mikoto and what she had done for him. Hinata smiled to herself and thanked this lady in her mind.

'Thank you so much! Mikoto-san… for being there for Naruto-kun when he needed it most!' Hinata said in her mind.

The two continued to cook for everyone. Once that was done, everybody dug in.

When Hiashi took a bite out of the food, it took all his willpower to not eat like a barbarian who just won a battle. His guards and his daughters' caretakers were struggling to do the same.

'How is this stuff so good!?' they all thought. Hiashi began to think back on the past and regretted not reaching out to Naruto back then. If he could cook like this, then he would have hired him as a chef!

Hanabi and Naruto, however, had no restraint on their eating manners, for Hanabi, it was way too good to remember etiquette which Hiashi had to reprimand her about causing her to pout. Whereas Naruto, simply believed that Hinata's cooking was the greatest in the world.

The said girl was going to berate him until Naruto said.

"Amazing! Everything that you make is the best Hina-chan! I don't know what my favourite food is anymore thanks to you, dattebayo!" Naruto complimented.

Hinata blushed at the compliment.

She replied modestly, "It was nothing, Naru-kun! I just wanted to make sure everyone had a tasty meal!"

Naruto grinned more, "That's why its so good! Because you wanted to make it tasty!" he said.

Hinata smiled and gave up on trying to not be flattered.

Ko and Hiashi's guards were smirking at the two's affectionate chatter. However, Hiashi decided to stop it.

"I appreciate that you two cares for one another dearly, but finish your meal soon, we don't have time to waste." Hiashi informed them.

Everyone nodded, except Naruto who asked him.

"Why the rush? It's Saturday morning, tebayo. We're already passed the border and we only need to get to Iwa by Wednesday. Don't we have plenty of time to spare?" Naruto questioned.

Hiashi turned to him and replied coolly, "On paper, yes. However, We, also must have time to prepare and settle ourselves for the meetings and propositions to come for the next 8 months. So, we mustn't waste time." Earning an "Oh!" from Naruto making Hinata and Hanabi chuckle.

Then one of Hiashi's guards who managed to not smack his meal, stopped and mentioned.

"Pardon me for speaking without permission Hiashi-sama. But, if we're going to try arriving early, then we'll have to run. Meaning we'll arrive on Monday if we hurry. However, Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama aren't dressed for that." The guard informed.

Hiashi took a look at his daughters' fitted in their own Kimono's, with Hinata in her sky blue Kimono with a lavender sash and Hanabi with her autumn themed Kimono with red flames at the edges.

He sighed to himself, why in the world did he tell his daughters to dress up in their Kimono's before travelling?

However, Ko spoke up with a suggestion.

"If I may suggest… there's a town about 2 hours away. Maybe we could find Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama something more suitable to wear for the rest of the journey." Ko told everyone.

Hiashi thought about it and said.

"Very well… thank you Ko-san for your suggestion. We'll splurge a little and give everyone a break from their duties as a reward for all your efforts." Hiashi told them.

Ko and his guards thanked him, "Thank you very much, Hiashi-sama!"

Whilst Hinata and Hanabi said, "Thank you, father."

And Naruto simply said, "Thanks a bunch! Tebayo!"

Hiashi shook his head in amusement at Naruto's informal manner of speaking. This was yet again… another reason why he would like to have Naruto as his son-in-law, he made life feel like it was a blessing and not a chore. Unlike all those other heirs who were after his daughters' hands. They weren't bad people, just they were too… 'traditional' to the point they brought nothing new to the table.

After their morning lunch, they continued walking.

 **Two hours later, Village of Gems.**

The Village, by the time they made their arrival, was booming with people running about and cheering around festivities and stalls full of street food.

The entire group looked around in wonder with Hanabi's eyes sparkling at the sight.

A very bulky man with a fancy moustache welcomed them.

"Hohoho! Welcome to the Village of Gems! You're all right on time for the Annual Festivities! Please enjoy yourselves to our accommodations and attractions!" the man advertised.

"Wow! Look, look guys! It's a festival! Father can we please join?" Hanabi pleaded Hiashi.

Hiashi to their amazement allowed it.

"You may, as I said before, everyone gets to have a break before we depart later this evening."

Everyone thanked him before setting off into groups.

Hiashi and his guards split off into one group obviously still defending him whilst at the same time enjoying the festival.

Ko decided to split off from everyone else. He jumped into the crowd in the shadows, so he could still observe Naruto, Hanabi and Hinata. Who grouped up.

As Hinata was doing her best to keep up with her energetic sister and spontaneous boyfriend. She couldn't help but giggle at the interactions between the two.

"Oi! I want to go see this!" Hanabi tried to jump up to see the puppet show that was going on.

Naruto laughed along with Hinata at her little struggle to 'instantly grow' taller.

"I can see you need some help there, Hanabi!" Naruto told her as he hoisted her onto his shoulders.

Hanabi screamed in surprise but nevertheless enjoyed the show of the puppet show that told the story of two powerful brothers, who fought over the succession of their Father.

As the three watched, they wowed and awed at battle scenes.

As Naruto was watching, he couldn't help but think of the story of Indra and Ashura. In turn, he thought of Sasuke.

'Sasuke… I wonder what you're up to right now?'

* * *

 **With Sasuke in the Fire country.**

Not too far from where Naruto was. Sasuke had just walked into a clearing into the forest where he awaited a 'certain someone'.

He clicked his tongue.

"She isn't here yet…" Sasuke muttered as he looked at the small pink box he held in his right hand.

He didn't show it, but he was nervous for what he was about to do.

He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose.

He remembered his most memorable event he had encountered about a week ago as when he tried to use his Rinnegan against some rouge-non.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Sasuke was on his way to return to Konoha after he had participated in Kumo's battle royale._

 _His left eye was bothering him with some sensation for the past 2 weeks and didn't know what was up. However, he didn't have timem to worry about that as he sensed a Fuma Shuriken heading his way._

 _He substituted with a log behind some tree and immediately began scanning the area._

 _Then he noticed some bushes move and threw a chakra receiver into it._

 _He heard a 'poof'._

' _Substitution…' then he felt a presence behind him._

" _Got ya!" the assailant vertically slashed trying to cleave Sasuke in half._

 _Sasuke vanished using a lightning body flicker to appear in the middle of a clearing._

" _It's about time for you guys to show yourselves!" Sasuke told them as he formed a Chidori in his hand._

' _Chidori Nagashi!'_

 _He raised his arm high in the air and let the Chidori supercharge the area._

 _He heard screams of agony and groans fill the area._

 _Five rogue-nin dropped onto the floor unconscious whilst three more more appeared unscathed._

 _Sasuke narrowed his eyes._

" _Why are you attacking me?"_

 _The woman who was the leader smirked at him._

" _Isn't it obvious, Uchiha? We're here to take you down for a profit and your eyes as a little bonus…"_

 _Sasuke pulled his sword out._

" _This is pointless… give up now before you three get hurt like your other friends."_

 _The lady scoffed, "Oh please! We haven't even gotten serious… you two, formation!"_

" _Yes!" the man and the other girl appeared by Sasuke's sides then tried to use a containment Jutsu on him._

 _Sasuke prevented them by smoothly bashing the man on his right in the head with the butt of his sword. Then kicked off his body to flip a few times in the air, gaining momentum before he drop kicked the girl's neck, making her fly into the other man._

 _The two caught each other before using a combined attack._

" _Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The girl shouted._

" _Wind style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!" The man launched a volley of Wind blast to coat the water dragon._

 _Sasuke readied himself. When the combined attack almost touched him. He summoned Susanoo's rib cage and covered it in lightning before piercing straight through the attack._

 _When he sped passed the two assailants, he turned around and shot up two Chidori sharp spears to incapacitate them._

 _It hit, the two were knocked out._

 _Then, suddenly, Sasuke looked to his left and saw the leader right in his face with a plasma blade._

" _Your mine, Uchiha! Storm release: Beam Scapel!" She thrusted just 5 centre metres away from his forehead._

 _Sasuke, then tried using his Rinne Sharingan to shift himself out of the way…_

 _Instead, he found himself being warped into a dark abyss. With nothing in it._

 _Save for a man as tall as him, dressed in white monk clothing with 9 Magatama patterns on his back and long brown hair in a messy ponytail._

 _He turned around, showing his narrow, charming face, his lips in a condescending frown and his eyes with the same Mangekyou Sharingan pattern as Sasuke's own._

" _Nice to meet you… Sasuke Uchiha… My current reincarnation." He told him._

 _Sasuke's eyes widened but calmed himself down._

" _Then I take it that you're Indra Otsutsuki."_

 _He smirked._

" _You're correct. And as to why I've have brought you here… I have some questions for you to answer." He told him._

 _Sasuke told, "I'm in the middle of a battle. I don't have time for answering your questions."_

 _Indra assured him._

" _Don't worry, Sasuke. In this dimension of ours, time outside doesn't move."_

 _Sasuke accepted this and relaxed a bit._

" _This is our dimension?" he asked._

" _Yes… well it won't exist for two long after we're done here. But let's get this over with, shall we?" Indra insisted._

 _Sasuke replied, "I wouldn't have it any other way."_

 _Indra nodded and began questioning Sasuke._

" _Now, I need to ask you? Why are you helping Ashura's reincarnation with his weak-minded vision for the world? Don't you see that the world needs order!?" Indra asked._

 _Sasuke scoffed, "Isn't it obvious? Only Naruto can lead the world to a better future…" but he was cut off._

" _NONSENSE! You of all people know that such naïve hopes are nothing but a fool's dream! If one doesn't control the world, peace will never be achieved! Can't you see that?"_

 _Sasuke remained silent for a few seconds before replying._

" _Yeah, I do…" Indra was about to smile until._

" _But that's why I support the idiot. He may be naïve, a bit stupid and rash. But when people are around him, he somehow inspires others to work together to create a better future… He showed me that friends… the bonds that we have make us achieve an even greater power than I alone ever could."_

 _Indra was stunned by his reincarnates speech._

" _Besides, he needs me as to not screw things over if things get to difficult. After all, he's a dobe."_

 _Indra smiled warmly at Sasuke, satisfied with his answer._

" _I see… so that's true strength… the power of bonds…" Indra said quietly to himself._

 _Indra continued, "I'm satisfied with your answer Sasuke. To be honest, I was planning on trying to corrupt you again. But… your words and ambitions have moved me._

 _I'd like to give you something in return for making me see the light."_

 _Sasuke looked at Indra who closed his eyes, then opened them wide revealing a different Sharingan._

 _These eyes were red, with a swirl pattern in them and through eye contact he gifted Sasuke with even greater power._

 _Sasuke felt his eyes and chakra become much denser and powerful._

 _He felt his Rinne Sharingan bask in a strange warm whilst his right eye being amplified by Yin chakra._

" _If this Ashura's reincarnate is going to change the world, then he's going to need the best pair of eyes to help him see it through."_

 _Sasuke was stunned by this gesture and thanked him._

 _Indra turned away._

" _Also… take care of that Naruto guy for me alright." Indra asked him._

 _Sasuke replied, "Of course I will. He always gets himself in trouble."_

 _Indra smiled before fading away._

 _Indra appeared in some other world near a stream. He was his younger self again. He walked towards the stream and spotted a small boy with brown spikey hair._

 _The boy turned around._

' _Hey! Big Brother! I was waiting for you! Wanna catch some fish with me!?" Ashura asked eagerly._

 _Indra smiled at him, "Okay Ashura! I'll join you!"_

 _Ashura cheered making him chuckle._

 _Both the reconciliated brothers spent most of their days trying to catch the biggest fish for dinner later that day._

 _Indra was finally at peace._

 _Back with Sasuke…_

 _Once Sasuke was out of the dimension. He saw the leader's attack right in front of him. He smirked as he formed as invisible barrier that absorbed the Storm technique._

" _W-What!?" the woman stumbled in shock._

 _This was enough for Sasuke._

 _Using his eyes' new ability. He mentally used the surrounding chakra around his opponent to from a lightning cage. Once the rouge Kunoichi was trapped. He used the final stage of his one of his new abilities._

' _Secret Technique: Elemental Control!' he exclaimed in his head._

 _The lightning caged sent a shock of electricity through her body rendering her unconscious._

 _Sasuke avoided the explosion of electricity by shifting himself away further than he ever did before._

' _Elemental control? I can use the chakra my eyes can see to form different elements within a certain distance… I like it. I wonder what else Indra gave me?' Sasuke walked into the distance._

 _ **Flashback end**_

Then he heard the leaves in front of him ruffle.

'Here goes…' he told himself.

The person who leaped in front of him was none other than Sakura Haruno who rushed all the way from Konoha the last 4 days to respond to Sasuke's 'emergency' call.

Sakura spoke up.

"Hey Sasuke-kun! I'm here as you requested. What's up?" she asked.

"Sakura… it's been a while since you told me how you felt in your last letter… and you deserved an answer in person."

Ba-dump! Sakura's heart raced hard.

'No way! Could he be?'

Sasuke looked into Sakura's eyes making her blush slightly. Then Sasuke himself grow a bit pink on his cheeks.

They walked towards each other closer until they only a foot away before leaning their faces towards one another.

Then… their lips met, intoxicated the two began to battle one another for dominance gaining access to one another's mouths.

Sasuke had won that battle and pulled away to show her the contents of the little box he had bought.

Sakura was blown away. Inside was an emerald on a golden ring.

"Sakura… even when I pushed you away, hurt you and even outright said I hated you… you were the only one other than Naruto who still had it in them to care for me and so…"

Sakura's had tears down her face.

"What I am trying to say is… when you let me make you an Uchiha?" Sasuke asked with a slightly pink face.

Sakura responded.

"YES! SASUKE-KUN! OF COURSE, I WILL!" As she kissed him full on the lips again.

Sasuke smiled against her lips.

He began to get into the mood…

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **Back at the Village of Gems**

Naruto, Hinata and Hanabi who was stuffing her face with cotton candy. Were in a large tent where they were given plain clothes which the they could draw on.

Naruto decided to pick out a lavender Kimono blouse that came with a dark purple obi. He was drawing white lily patterns and light purple roses on the sleeves and bottom of the piece of clothing.

Hinata picked out an autumn jacket and black shirt for Hanabi. She knew Hanabi liked red, so she drew little firework symbols in the middle of the back of her jacket and flames on the breasts part of the jacket. Her shirt was left alone as Hanabi preferred it to be black. She also found a jacket similar to Naruto's old Sage jacket. This one was all red. So, she drew some black stripes on the sleeves of the jacket and orange Uzumaki swirls on the shoulders and back part.

When the two were done drawing and given it to one of the stall's workers to dye in the new patterns and colours.

Naruto suddenly felt a shiver from the 'Man force'. He didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to congratulate Sasuke for something.

Hinata noticed this.

"Naru-kun, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

Naruto grinned at her, "Nothing. I just felt like I need to get Sasuke something to congratulate him."

Hinata tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh? Why's that?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Not sure, but I feel like he finally became a man today."

Hinata giggled at his reasoning and both sat down with Hanabi between them who was now, opening a fault gem called a 'Gem of fortune'.

"So, Hanabi-chan, what does your one?" Hinata asked her younger sister.

Hanabi went squealing as she finished reading her fortune.

"It says the one I admire likes me back!" Hanabi told her.

Naruto grinned mischievously.

"Oh, and who is this one you admire?" Naruto asked

Hanabi went red for a second.

"Er! No one you need to know, Big Bro!" Hanabi told him.

Hinata giggled, "I think it's someone who calls you Big Brother, Naru-kun."

Hanabi looked at her sister with a betrayed look on her face.

Naruto looked through his memories and remembered Konohamaru.

He then also recalled Hanabi calling Konohamaru her 'Senpai' when they were together.

"Oh! It's Konohamaru!" Naruto figured it out.

Hanabi told him, "No! I don't like Konohamaru-senpai!"

Naruto smirked, "I never said you liked him." Hanabi froze at that statement. She was beet red.

Naruto and Hinata laughed at Hanabi's embarrassment.

Soon, they thought enough was enough and continued to enjoy the festival one they got their clothes dyed.

They all got dressed up in their new clothes.

Hinata was now wearing her Kimono blouse with a white undershirt beneath. A pair of navy shorts, thigh-high stocking socks and black Shinobi Sandals.

Hanabi enjoyed her new clothes. A black T-shirt with her Autumn coloured and red jacket over it. Black capris pants and regular sandals.

Naruto was still wearing his old clothes, he just slipped on the red cloak jacket that Hinata made for him.

As of now, the group were wandering around town looking for something to do. Naruto didn't really see the anything that interested him until he saw an empty park.

"Hey! There's a park over there! Let's go!" Naruto dragged Hinata and Hanabi.

Hanabi was confused, what was there to get excited over some park?

Hinata on the other hand was excited for whatever Naruto had in mind. Especially when he made Hanabi and her get seated in the swings.

"Hold on tight!" Naruto pushed the two Hyuga sisters high into the air.

They screamed in fright and excitement.

Soon they were laughing.

"Higher Naru-kun!" Hinata told him.

"Yeah Big Bro! I want to fly!" Hanabi shouted.

Naruto complied and pushed them even harder to the point that they went passed the parallel angle of the swing.

Silently, Naruto made a shadow clone and had it go back into the festival to get something for all of them to eat.

As the two girls were came down, Naruto pushed them so hard that they flew off their swings and high into the air!

"AHH!" Hinata and Hanabi screamed.

"NARUTO!" Hinata called his name.

Naruto appeared in the air.

"Right here" with his Six Paths Sage mode activated.

He used some wind chakra to make them all float in the air. They cheered as they were being drifted round the park.

They especially enjoyed the ride down back to the ground.

They all agreed that this was one of the best times they had in a while.

"Oh man that was fun! Hey! My clone is here, tebayo!"

His clone came back with three cones of ice-cream which they all gratefully accepted.

As they were eating, Naruto started a conversation.

"Today was fun. Did you two enjoy yourselves?" Naruto asked the two girls.

They nodded.

"Yeah, I never had so much fun like this before." Hinata admitted.

Hanabi chorused in agreement.

"Yeah! Today was amazing! I wish it would never end!" Hanabi cheered.

Hinata smiled at her sister before she turned to watch the sunset with Naruto. They all admired the warm orange glow of the setting sun. Basking them with a warm, relaxing wave of satisfaction for the day.

However, this also meant that they needed to meet up with Hiashi.

"Well, it was great whilst it lasted but it's time to go see your old man, tebayo." Naruto remined them as he stood up.

Hinata and Hanabi reluctantly agreed. Saddened that their day time in this village had come to an end.

But that's how life is… you spent each day doing the things you love and making the most out of it. But eventually it's going to come to an end. That's what living is about, doing the things you do with your all until you are satisfied with your day.

And satisfied were the entire group when they met up at the exit of the village.

... At the Village exit...

Hiashi looked around to ensure everyone was present.

"Good, everyone is here. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves."

Everyone nodded.

Hiashi continued, "I'm glad you all did, but now we must continue our journey."

They all made their way out of the village. Once they were far enough, Naruto suggested.

"Hey! Before we run, I want to give you all something, so you guys don't get tired, tebayo!"

Everyone looked at him and wondered what it could be.

"Naru-kun? What are you talking about?" Hinata asked.

Naruto grinned.

"You'll see! After all, you're the first one I did it with, tebayo!"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Did what!?" with his Byakugan activated.

Naruto took a step back and quickly told him.

"Ah… gave my chakra to… you know, during the war!" Naruto explained.

Hiashi deactivated his Byakugan and laid off him.

Naruto tapped into some of Kurama's chakra and mixed it with his sage mode before moulding it to each person's unique chakra network.

They were all invigorated. They could reach Iwa even sooner than they had anticipated.

Naruto then shouted, "On your marks!"

Hinata and Hanabi giggled.

"Get set! GO!"

And they were off full speed ahead towards Iwa. Leaving behind a trail of dust behind them.

A merchant caravan was passing by until a collective group of orange cloaked people blew him away into the tree line.

They would be arriving sooner than they thought they'd be.

* * *

… **Two days later… Monday…**

They finally made to Iwa thanks to the new change of clothes and Naruto's chakra keeping them awake for the last two days.

However, even that was exhausted along with any energy to remain awake.

"Phew! We made it guys!" Naruto cheered as sweat made his shirt under his jacket stick to his body.

No one replied but only nodded as they were too tired to speak.

Then a familiar voice spoke.

"When I heard that shout, I didn't want it to be true, but Naruto? You're here? Troublesome…" the man spoke.

Naruto turned to face him and saw who it was.

"Shikamaru! How have you been, tabayo!? Oh yeah! Ino and Chouji said 'Hi!' and also… where's Temari? I heard she was with you!" Naruto started firing off questions with suddenly renewed energy.

Shikamaru began to sweat at the blonde's energy as he looked back at the Hyuga behind him who were trying to catch their breath.

'Where did all that energy come from?' he thought.

"Well, yeah. I've been alright, just been going through all these treaties, paper agreements on tradelines and what Konoha has to offer… all that troublesome stuff… as for my troublesome girlfriend, she is right now at the hotel we booked for the year. And thanks for letting me know what Chouji and Ino are doing." Shikamaru conversed with Naruto.

Then he added, "And I guessed you guys will be needing a place. So I booked a holiday house for the Hyuga in advance, but I didn't think you'd be here."

Naruto grinned, "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei nominated me at the last minute and told me that my presence here would honour Iwa, or something like that. Oh yeah and you'll be helping me out with the whole village relations process whilst at it."

Shikamaru sighed, "Why did you have to come? Everything is so eventful with you… troublesome…" he ended with a lazy smile.

Naruto laughed for a bit.

Then another presence came along.

"Well if it isn't Naruto! How have you been!?" the woman said.

Naruto grinned, "Hey there, Kurotsuchi-nee! I'm good! Did you become the Tsuchikage yet?"

Kurotsuchi laughed at his bright personality.

"Not yet! But I am being trained for it now. And here are the Hyuga, welcome to Iwa!"

They all bowed as necessary and only Hinata with Hamura's chakra recovered enough to speak.

"It's nice to see you Kurotsuchi-san. Thank you and all of Iwa for having us here." Hinata spoke.

Kurotsuchi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Bah! Don't be so formal! Just relax and I'll show you all your accomodations!" Kurotsuchi told her.

Hinata smiled at this woman's personality. She was similar to Naruto and found herself getting along well with her.

As they followed Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi. Naruto asked them a question in a way that set them all off, including the tired Hyuga.

"Hey, Kurotsuchi-nee? Are we going to being in a super fancy, hidden cave? I heard that people in Iwa live in caves, dattebayo! Is that true?" Naruto asked curiously as he took in the majestic sight of Iwagakure's mountain-built establishments.

They all laughed at his expression, except Shikamaru who smiled. Even Hiashi let out a small, yet hearty chuckle despite being tired.

Shikamaru saw the hotel he was staying at and parted.

A few minutes of walking later.

Kurotsuchi stopped them in front of a large building that was part of a mountain rock. It had vegetation growing around the top of it as well as a few flowers and some lanterns making the entrance glow. Giving it a warm ambiance.

Then they went inside and saw an illustrious main room with two large staircases that lead to various rooms that they could use for the next 8 months.

She showed them all gardens which Hinata was going to check out with Naruto later.

The pool area, a training hall filled with all the necessary equipment and the large kitchen and dining rooms that they'll be using.

Then finally, their rooms in this holiday house.

Each room had lush, green carpets, limestone walls and fine wood furniture. The beds were queen sized, with white fluffy blankets and black and grey pillows.

And the bathing rooms in each one had their own spa.

Kurotsuchi grinned at their faces.

"I'm glad you like it! Well, if you guys need anything to eat, there are plenty of places that I'd recommend, but if you want to eat here. Then you're going to have to cook for yourselves, the ingredients are all in the fridge.

They thanked her, and she bid them goodnight.

They all went to sleep after two days of running. Hinata and Naruto shared the same room much to Hiashi's chagrin but allowed it.

They all snuggled in for the night.

They were going to need it once Wednesday came.

* * *

 **There you go, I didn't just want to go straight into Iwa business just yet.**

 **As I said before, I wanted to showcase the more subtle sides of the Naruto Universe after all that Ninja business and hopefully showed that life is meant to be lived to its fullest.**

 **Sasuke's new ability**

 **Elemental Control - An ability gifted to Sasuke from Indra. An advanced form of Sasuke's Flame control. Combining his ocular prowess, space-time abilities and the Six Paths Yin Chakra's affinity for all five elements. He is able to manipulate the chakra in the air (not Natural energy) within his vision to form different elements and jutsu with his eyes similar to his Blaze release techniques.**

 **As of now, Sasuke can only manipulate the chakra around a small 3 metre radius within a 20 metre distance in his vision.**

 **Will become stronger with training and experience.**

 **Shifting - His Rinnegan's exclusive ability. Able to shift dimension through within a certain range, can extend using an object.**

 **I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Praise the sun, SoulsVeteran.**


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